Blizzard
by Those-Who Walk-Alone
Summary: She fought for a cause. She fought in a war. She fought for her love. [modern AU]
1. Chapter 1

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 1_

Nightfall.

Arendelle's cold winters were a common thing around that period of time. Heavy snowstorms, sometimes blizzards, would wreck the town with chaos as people scrambled towards their homes to seek out refuge from the screaming winds outside. All this was familiar to them; it happened every year.

And so was the danger.

In the night, if there weren't any storms, people had another reason to go home ASAP. Through the darkness, and the supposed quiet of the night, you could hear screams slicing through the fabric of peace. Screams of fear, screams of pain, screams of sheer shock. It didn't matter; all that you would be concerned about was that you weren't the one screaming. By then, few people dared to venture into the night to help; it usually meant that they would get hurt too. The streets were close to lawless; the snow was their smokescreen, and the police couldn't deal with it; their tracks were covered by fresh snow, and there were no witnesses to quesiton. So whenever people had to travel in the night, they always got jumpy. They always had the feeling that somebody was watching them. The normal people were constantly aware that gangs were around, ready to pounce from a corner and extort whatever they saw fit.

But eventually, the gangs were also getting the feeling that they were being watched.

Rumours spread like wildfire, even during the winter, to put the statement to irony. People whispered in the streets, that the screams you heard were still from shock, pain and fear, but the difference was the people who were screaming.

And it wasn't the normal people anymore.

Something had come along to their small town, someone here to fight to battles they could not win, and save them from the terrors they could not run from.

* * *

Anna's fist tightened around the knife she carried in her pocket.

She was still scared. Despite the gang having forced her to give up, something was in their eyes. A look of despair. A twitch of anxiety. Anna noticed something different. This wasn't the way gangs usually functioned: scared, paranoid people weren't the kind of people they were.

"Get moving, bitch." Someone roughly shoved her from behind. The man aimed a revolver against the back of her head as the 4-man gang forced their way through the growing storm along a deserted, and strangely long alleyway. The wind had begun to whip up, and the snow was building up. She surveyed her surroundings; her limited combat experience with a blade would have to do, so she would need to look at what her combatants had: baseball bat, revolver, unarmed and brass knuckles. Unlikely she would live through a 4 man gang fight.

"What the hell do you want with me?" Anna managed to spit out.

"Oh, you know, we just bring back whoever we want, and then we decide what to do with you." She felt the cold hard metal of the revolver barrel against the back of her head. "Keep moving. I don't want to have to blow your brains out. No point dragging a rotten corpse around." Hate cut through her heart like a razor.

A twitch of an eye.

The trembling of a hand.

Something was definitely up.

The unarmed man's phone began to ring. "Hello?"

The volume was turned up to maximum due to the severe winds, but Anna could pick out the conversation from the phone. "Where the hell are you guys?"

"Sorry boss, we've run into a nice lady over here," upon which the man turned around gave an evil smile towards her, "and we're bringing her back."

"Well, get moving, cause the forecast is picking up a storm inbound. Gonna be a big one, and I don't want you on the streets when it happens."

"You got it, boss –"

Something slammed into the side of the man's face and ricocheted off him, slamming him to the ground. He cried out in pain as he crashed to the snowy ground below. Anna's heart raced; could this be her chance to escape? What the hell was going on?

"What the hell –!" the man armed with the revolver started before a bright white figure landed heavily, slamming his face into the pavement and knocking him out. The man with the brass knuckles shoved Anna to the ground as he confronted this new adversary. Anna glanced at the new fighter; white, sleek suit, hard white mask and various attachments to the outfit, clasping a strange weapon in hand, stance ready to attack.

The remaining two men had begun to back off a little bit.

The man with the bat swung first. The white fighter – was it a woman? – countered his attack with her weapon, her large glaive-like weapon slammed into the side of the bat, disarming the man. She spun, swinging the glaive straight into the man's gut, knocking the air out of him, then jumped to slam the edge of the glaive upon his head, knocking her combatant unconscious. The brass knuckles almost connected with her face, but the fighter raised the glaive to deflect the man's swing, then slammed the whole glaive into his body, forcing him to lose his balance and fall into the brick wall behind him. One well-aimed punch and he was out cold.

Anna lay on the ground, still stunned at what had just happened.

The fighter moved towards her and extended her hand; Anna took it and pulled herself up. "Th-thanks," she managed to utter, half from shock and half from the cold. The wind was really picking up now.

"You should go," came the fighter's clear but indistinguishable voice. "This storm is going to be big."

"Wh-what about you?"

"I need to tidy these losers up."

"What for?" A part of Anna's earlier anger towards them. "These idiots don't deserve it. They deserve to freeze out here—"

"It's not the way I do things," the strange woman went on, turning around to face Anna fully. Through the eyeholes of the mask Anna could see the deep, intense blue eyes that stared from behind, warning her not to tread down the dangerous path of hate that she was taking. "And neither should you."

Anna nodded tentatively. Then she ran.

The wind howled as the fighter slid the glaive upon the strap attached to her suit, and dragged the four men into the shelter of a nearby building, threatening to blow in the seemingly fragile glass windows to ravage the unconscious violators within. She tied their bodies to the side of a pillar, then retrieved her iPhone from her pocket, and keyed in the number.

"This is the Arendelle Police Department, how can we help?"

"Left you a little present. Manufactory, Asbury Drive. Merry Christmas."

She cut off the line, her sighs' breath crystallizing as she walked away from the building and into the blizzard, vanishing into the blurry whiteness beyond.

* * *

"Dispatch, we have a call from observed individual, codename "Blizzard". Signal located at following coordinates, says we have an early Christmas present there."

"Again?" Kristoff hit the ignition on the patrol car and turned his headlights to full blast. He wasn't going to see nutshit in this storm. "This is Dispatch 2-3, requesting backup on following coordinates to secure potential dangerous targets. Heading towards the Manufactory at Asbury Drive, requesting some help if you can spare some."

"Copy that, Dispatch 2-3, rerouting nearby patrols to assist you."

The storm was too severe. Way too severe. Kristoff engaged the GPS on the patrol car and relied more on the display than the road ahead to turn onto the drive, finally reaching his destination after struggling to see through the storm.. He stopped the car and drew his pistol, zipping up his jacket as he exited his vehicle, staggering as a frosty gust clawed at his face as it blew past. Warding off the harsh winds with his sleeved arm, he raised the sidearm as he approached the building's half open shutter door. "Dispatch 2-3, backup is arriving."

"Copy that," he replied, crouching under the shutters to enter the building, the interior already partially covered with snow blown in by the gales outside.

Then he saw them. Four bodies, motionless, lying tied up to a metal column next to a few manufacturing tables. "This is Dispatch 2-3, I have four men inside the compound, ready a medical team. Looks like they're out cold." Kristoff knelt to check each of their pulses. "Yes, they are, and luckily not in any worse shape."

"Any sign of Blizzard?"

Kristoff looked around, his hand gripping a little bit tighter on his pistol. "Negative." He was genuinely a little afraid; if someone could take out four men when no one else in the town dared to take out a gang, would he even stand a chance should he become a target?

But then again, the file they had listed for Blizzard was that of "vigilante" status, and so far there were no reports of the unknown person harming innocent people, or assaulting essential service personnel. They could have had a worse person on their hands.

The doors surrounding the manufactory creaked open as more police officers streamed through the building, sidearms ready. They all gathered collectively to stare upon the spectacle before them.

Kristoff broke the silence. "Let's get them out of here before the storm gets any worse."

There was a flurry of activity as the police officers moved to restrain the prisoners before they untied the constraining, almost strangling ropes from their bodies and hefted them to their respective patrol cars, all eager to get back to the safety of their station. Engines were started, headlights were lighted, and within 15 minutes the scene was cleared.

* * *

Anna ascended the steps of her apartment in a rather hasty manner, a wave of relief washing over her as she slammed the door of her room, locking it just to be safe.

She breathed deeply. She'd been on her toes ever since she had escaped her ordeal, thanks to a mysterious stranger that had decided to intervene. Placing a hand over her forehead, she practically walked over and collapsed on her bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

Had she been a tiny bit more awake, she would have seen the white figure crouched on the rooftop opposite her window.

Elsa watched Anna, motionless upon her bed. _So this is my roommate. Curious._

It was all a set-up. Everything that she had crafted: her new identity, her new personality, her new habits, all of it was a cover. Anna would play an integral part in that cover. Elsa had gone from a shy, insecure introvert to a more open, social person in a matter of days just to prepare to integrate into her cover.

She hated it. It restricted her. Binded her to constrains she never wanted. But away from the mercenaries and crooks, she could live in relative safety, but still rain hell upon those who decided they could do whatever the hell they wanted.

Her cover, her new identity, was for the best.

Because the last thing Elsa wanted was for someone to get hurt because of her.

**First fic for quite a while, just got back to writing from a busy schedule. Read and review, would be much appreciated :)**


	2. Chapter 2

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 2_

Saturday

5th December, 2015.

8am.

And Anna had set her alarm on by accident. Again.

The shrill piercing noise forcefully jabbed her eardrums, like a spear driven straight into her auditory systems, signed with a message to "WAKE UP". Irritation mixed with irrationality from exhaustion got the better of her, and she forcefully slammed her hand upon her bedside table, missing the alarm completely. As pain shot though her now clenched fist Anna outstretched her other hand in an attempt to shut off the annoying sound.

This time it worked. The alarm stopped.

"Well that certainly woke me up," she muttered, yawning sleepily as she rubbed the vestiges of slumber from her pupils. Something had happened yesterday, she thought to herself. What was it—

—snow. Deep snow. Heavy winds. Four men. Armed. Hostage. Glaive. White figure. In one flashback the events of yesterday night came rushing back to Anna.

That mask...

And those eyes, those deep, piercing blue eyes…

She shook the thought out of her head. As much as her angel of intervention was scary, she was… decent, at the very least. She'd been nice to Anna, or at least to Anna's mind, things could have gone a lot worse. But she respected the fact that she was willing to save her, despite having no prerogative to do so. It had been her fault that she had gone out in the night, having forgotten to restock up on her room's medication.

Anna got up from her bed, brushing away loose curls of her reddish-brown ginger hair; her hair at this point was still a mess. For her, that was a level one priority emergency.

* * *

She wasn't hungry.

That made it a tiny bit of a problem: it left her with nothing left to do. Anna supposed she could head over to the campus Starbucks, a few minutes' walk away from her apartment. Which reminded her: her roommate was due to arrive today. She had worked out something with someone she had met online who said she studied in the same university as she did; upon further consideration AFTER she had agreed did she realize it was a particularly dangerous arrangement, for she could have easily been tricked. But she was too kind. Anna would always give people the benefit of the doubt.

The bag she carried contained only her laptop – she had an essay to rush before school opened on Monday again. Her iPhone beeped; without hesitation she drew the device from the depths of her jeans' pocket and checked the message. It was Kristoff. -_How are you? Everything good at school?-_

She smiled. Even after 10 years of knowing her, Kristoff still cared about her. She fired off a reply. -_I'm all good. How was your shift last night?-_

_-Had a strange encounter after someone decided to leave us a present of four armed men in a manufactory.-_

Anna frowned as she descended the stairs of her apartment. That sounded familiar. -_Yeah, ran into those people.-_

_-WHAT? They tried to target you?-_

_-Yeah, but someone dressed in pure white just appeared out of nowhere and saved me.-_

_-Dressed in white? That sounds like Blizzard.-_

Blizzard? Anna's curiosity was piqued. It was probably classified information that Kristoff had decided to reveal to her about APD's operations. This kind of things usually never got out to the general public, but Anna had the benefit of insider information. -_That what you guys calling her?-_

_-It's a "her"?-_

_-That's what it seemed.-_

Anna closed her phone after no more messages came forth from Kristoff's end. She was already at the Starbucks on campus; she ordered a coffee, sat down and got to work, plugging in her earphones as she hit her playlist on Spotify. For her, it was a normal day on campus, save the lack of lessons, and as usual, her workload wasn't something easily eased.

Everything was normal.

Then she walked in.

* * *

It had been about an hour since Anna had started work on her essay, when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she instinctively took down her earphones. "Mind if I sit here?" a cool voice floated into her ears. She looked up.

At possibly the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

Her platinum blonde locks streamed down her left shoulder, gleaming in the sunlight that cut through the large windows of the coffee outlet. Her dress was stunning; deep shades of blue and white mixed in with variations in the colors themselves, and she carried a coffee in her other hand. That point was redundant, Anna noted, but she couldn't help take in everything she was seeing. It was as if she had attained enlightenment upon setting her sights on the miracle before her.

Then she realized she was staring. "I – I mean, sure, of course!" she practically beamed.

The girl smiled gently in return. "I hope I'm not intruding. It's just that the rest of the seats are taken." Anna looked up to see the store quickly filling up with people, for some reason. Then she looked outside. While the sun still shone decently brightly outside, the wind had begun to pick up, indicating a chance for another snowstorm to hit. "No, it's fine," Anna replied, looking over her laptop, then half-ducking behind it so it didn't look to obvious that she was staring.

_God she's beautiful_. _The way she talks, and the way she smiles…_

"What you working on? Sorry, I – I just have a habit of asking people that," her new companion quickly added that last line back in. Anna could see a tinge of embarrassment cross her face—it made her look even cuter. Anna loved it. "Art project."

"Oooh. You some famous artist yet?"

Anna laughed. "Nowhere close."

"Come on, you can't be that bad either. Your drawings must be pretty damn good." Her smile made Anna's heart practically melt, combined with the praise she was showering her with. Anna usually took praise with a pinch of salt, but for some reason, she felt on top of the world with this girl around.

"Wait till you see them, then tell me what you think."

"Bring them along another time, I might see you around here." _Now that's a prospect I would genuinely be interested in. Oh my god, she is SO amazing._

"What's your name?" Anna tentatively ventured to ask.

"It's Elsa. Yours?"

"Anna."

"Pleasure to meet you," Elsa said, outstretching her hand to shake hers. But their contact. Oh, how Anna loved it when their hands touched, her warm skin glossing over Elsa's cool hand, she almost didn't want to let go. _What is going on with me? Am I falling in love with her already?_

"You staying round here?"

"Yeah," Anna said. "My roommate's supposed to move in in the next few hours, I think."

"Where d'you stay? I want to go over to look at those sketches of yours."

"The block over there," Anna pointed. "Fourth floor, unit number 2."

She watched as a small smile crept over Elsa's divine features, before it turned into a bigger smile, then a small giggle. Finally Elsa broke out laughing. A skeptical and confused look must have crossed her face, because Elsa attempted to regain her composure after a while. _Shit, I wanted to see her laugh some mo—_

"Anna. I just moved in there," a huge smile crossed Elsa's face. "I am your roommate."

Shock penetrated Anna as the full implications of Elsa's words sank in. "WHAT?!"

"Yeah, this is awkward isn't it," Elsa said before breaking out into laughter again. Anna couldn't help but laugh along.

At the same time, she was worried. _SHIT! I'm falling in love with this girl and now she's my roommate? Oh no, this can't be good. I am SO gonna end up hot and bothered, and she'll know. What if she hates me if she finds out? Ugh, Anna! Get it together, you can't just hit on this girl that you just met! But she's so wonderful…_ Anna resisted the urge for her mind to give rise to the dirty thoughts pressing at the back of her head, but wasn't sure if she was going to be able to maintain that self-control once they really started living with each other. But she couldn't stop her eyes roaming over Elsa's slender figure, her shoulders, her hips, her legs.

Her breasts—

"You okay?" Elsa's voice was a slap back to reality for her. She almost choked on the coffee she hadn't realized she'd been sipping on.

"Y-yeah, sure. I'm good, just a little overwhelmed at the coincidental nature of these events." Elsa smiled again. "So you literally moved in 1 hour ago?" Anna went on, nervous that Elsa's impression of her would radically change should she be caught staring.

"You weren't in. But I saw the rest of your stuff. No drawings though." Elsa half-pouted, causing Anna to laugh. "I should warn you though, I have strange habit of staying out really, really late at night. There will be times where I'll come back in the morning."

"Why's that?" Anna asked. She'd heard of weird roommates before, but this was new to her. "Are you like some party freak?"

Elsa laughed. "Nah, just like to stay out to clear my head sometimes. It helps."

"For that long? I'm starting to get the feeling you don't like me," Anna teased, drawing a laugh from her new companion. _Now that's music to my ears._

"It's fine," Elsa said after she stopped laughing. "I'm sure we'll get along." Her award winning smile melted Anna's heart yet again.

* * *

This was not good.

But then again, she predicted this. Her preliminary analysis of Anna was that of intense curiosity, though it appeared that she had underestimated that aspect of her. Her double identity was bound to be compromised.

But what choice did she have? She most certainly couldn't move out—that would look far too suspicious. She almost had nowhere else to go; amidst what appeared to be a growing manhunt for the elusive vigilante from both gangs, corrupt officers, mercenaries and still loyal police members, at some point she was going to be overwhelmed. Even the greatest of men had allies; she was but one girl, with a decent amount of funds to support her "campaign", but nothing more. How was she to hold her own? She most certainly couldn't go back to her ancestral home; that got destroyed when someone tracked her there.

She was tempted to accept the inevitability that she would be found out.

By a girl she barely even knew.

But would it be that bad? Her double life was a burden that she had to shoulder, alone, from the time she had gotten off the streets to reclaim inheritance stolen from her, when she promised no other person would ever exploit someone again, as long as she could do something about it. Her reclamation of her lost inheritance was a miracle, and she was determined to spread miracles. It would be nice, so alluringly nice, to have someone know, to get this stupid, bloody burden off her chest—

_No. It will be a cold night in hell before this ever happens. I will never, never burden anybody with the knowledge of my identity, and threaten their livelihoods with one glance upon my face. My secrets are hidden in the snowstorm: unseen, unheard, untouched._

_Conceal._

_Don't feel._

"You okay?" Anna's voice pierced her thoughts. Alarmed, her head shot up. How long had she been engrossed in her own thougths? "You look kinda tired," Anna went on. "Wanna go back and get some rest?"

"Sure."

There was something about this girl, Elsa realized, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Was it the way she talked? The way she smiled? Her cheery attitude? Elsa almost gravitated to her, but she didn't know why.

_She's too perfect. I can't let her know. She deserves better._


	3. Chapter 3

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 3_

Here we go again.

Anna was fast asleep. The two of them had spent the evening watching movies and generally prepping for their next day of classes at the university. Not that Elsa needed those classes; her arsenal of skills outweighed and outmatched probably anything she could probably learn at the university. She was here for the cover up, not for the lectures.

But she knew some part of her longed to be normal. As much as she told herself she never regretted her choice, sometimes she wished she hadn't become a vigilante, and never committed to going all out to help people. Sometimes she longed to fit in, not to be so estranged, not having to act like she was a social person. She just wanted someone to know who she was as a person.

But no. She chose this path. She couldn't go back. Not without practically putting a death sentence upon that person. No one deserved that. She couldn't condemn someone's life just so she could get the pain off her chest.

But she was only human.

And it hurt.

So bad.

Elsa donned the white suit, retrieved the necessary attachments, and leapt out the window. Sometimes she thought her job was stupid; she ended up copying ideas and equipment from pre-existing superheroes, even though those were just comics. It made her look like a fangirl, but she would have to bear with it; the ideas actually worked. Her grapple shot from her gauntlet, latching onto a rooftop, allowing her to swing to a balcony and keep running. She vaulted over the safety bar, pushed herself off a window ledge, and shot out her grapple again, this time pulling herself up to the rooftop, detaching her snowflake glaive in the same motion.

She surveyed the city. The night was fairly quiet. Hell, she might even get a night off.

Then an explosion rocked the entire town.

_Fuck! Now Anna will notice I'm gone—never mind._ She leapt from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of the explosion, her hand tightening on her glaive as a sense of dread filled her heart. So much for getting a night off, now it might even compromise her cover story.

_What the hell?_ Now there was gunfire, rapid gunfire, and more explosions. This couldn't be good. Elsa had half a mind to keep her distance, but forced herself towards the site…

* * *

"Dispatch, we have a reported robbery of the bank vault. All available units, reroute and neutralize the threat."

"Copy that. Dispatch 2-3 moving to secure the scene."

Kristoff engaged the loud police sirens as he turned onto another drive, and pressed the pedal to the metal. He knew the nature of reports; usually they were reported quite a while after the crime began, so for all he knew the robbers were already loading their loot onto an escape vehicle. Checking his pistol to make sure it was loaded, he stopped in front of the bank, turning the car so that he could get out on the side not directly facing the building. The building itself was a mess; windows were shattered, shards of glass lay everywhere, and it was full of bullet holes. By now, police cars had arrived to surround the vault, their officers similarly aiming their pistols over their patrol cars. Kristoff retrieved his speakerphone.

"This is the Arendelle Police Department. You are surrounded, and have nowhere to run. Surrender or we will use lethal force."

Silence. The only sound audible was the constant howling of the wind. No activity. Kristoff repeated his message. "This is the Arendelle Police Department. You are surrounded, and have nowhere to run. Surrender or we will use lethal force."

Still nothing.

His hand gripped his pistol ever tighter.

"HQ, this is Dispatch 2-3. No response from hostiles. Cannot breach, lack of intel on the hostiles."

"Dispatch, hold your position. Calling in SWAT teams to move in—"

"RPG!" someone yelled just before it hit. Kristoff dived out of the way, just before the rocket propelled grenade hit a nearby patrol car, causing it to explode, setting off a chain reaction that caused nearby cars to burst into flames simultaneously. Flaming debris was flung across the road, raging heat ignited from the burning wreckages, and the sound of gunfire filled the air—

Wait. Gunfire?

One solitary bullet grazed Kristoff's shoulder. He cried out, more from surprise than pain, and ducked behind the upturned patrol car, that was, to his relief, not on fire. "HQ! Someone just fired on us with an RPG! Gonna need more than just a SWAT team down here!"

"Say again, Dispatch 2-3, did you say RPG?"

Kristoff pushed himself into a standing position, took aim with his pistol, and opened fire. The armed gunmen weren't looking; Kristoff got two shots off, both connecting in the stomach of one gunman. He went down silently, unable to scream due to the sheer impact. "Man down!" one of them yelled, turning to Kristoff and opening fire with his AK47, forcing him to duck behind the car again.

"Roger that. One RPG, about 7 others with rifles, AKs."

"Copy that. Reinforcements are on their way."

Kristoff turned to the sound of screeching tires, as the SWAT van turned onto the drive. There was a pop, and something streaked past his car very fast. Kristoff only realized it was another RPG when the van erupted in a giant fireball, the wreckage's momentum pushing it forward onto the drive, mowing down one unfortunate cop who happened to be in the way.

It was chaos. Screaming from his fellow police officers, the gunmen yelling out orders. The only constant was the sound of continual gunfire from both sides. The fires raged and intensified. One more SWAT van came down the road, straight into the path of another RPG. This time the truck was flipped on its side, not completely destroyed. The gunmen opened fire on the truck, penetrating the windows with continual fire from their automatic rifles.

Then a white blur descended from the rooftops upon the unsuspecting gunmen below.

* * *

Armed hostiles.

Her worst nightmare. She had refused to include any firearms in her arsenal, because she didn't intend, or want, to kill anyone.

That left her particularly vulnerable to medium to long-range fire.

Elsa leapt across another rooftop gap, positioning herself above the gunmen still suppressing the police officers below. Then she made her move.

Her first target was the one with the RPG. Leaping from the rooftop and plunging towards the group, Elsa drew the glaive from her back. She planted her body's momentum straight onto the gunman's body, slamming into him and sliding him forward. Fighting the immense momentum with great strain, she forced herself up. Her reaction time window was closing, fast. Her glaive was up in half a second and was airborne in another half; the glaive slammed into the nearest gunman's hands, knocking the automatic rifle from his grip. Frantic yelling erupted from the remainder. Good. Panic reduced combat effectiveness, and she would need that advantage. One well-aimed punch to her target's head knocked him out of the fight.

One frantic gunman opened fire; a tactical disadvantage that Elsa decided to exploit. She grabbed one of the gunman, shielding her from the deadly stream of lead and letting him take most of the shots. A pang of guilt rippled through her; she never wanted to kill anyone, but then again, she didn't pull the trigger on that man, did she? Realising their mistake, the rest of the gunmen attempted to tackle her without killing one another, but the glaive proved to be a tactical advantage. Using its larger blades as a shield from physical attacks Elsa stuck her targets like glue, making sure there was at least one body nearby to block any incoming gunfire should the need arise, wrestling them to the ground to knock them out. One gunman extended to far with his swing; Elsa sidestepped him and knocked him heavily on the head with the glaive, rendering him unconscious.

The last four gunmen stood in a close circle, flanking Elsa from all sides. Then one of them had the good sense to attempt to bring up his weapon, but Elsa decided she couldn't afford that kind of risk, tossing out her glaive towards him, successfully disarming him. The rest of them decided it was a good time to make a move on Elsa, but ended up outplayed; with one sweep Elsa knocked one man off his legs, dodging the other two diving towards her, allowing them to slam into each other. She knocked out the one still on the ground, leapt over the two bodies to grab her glaive, and with one aimed throw she tossed the glaive at the first man, ricocheting onto the next, knocking both of them out.

_Wait. Where's the last one?_

She spotted the final gunman frantically running from the scene, handgun still out, as he turned and pointed the barrel towards Elsa. She ducked, raising her glaive to shield herself, just as the gun fired in her direction. Missed. Didn't even hit the glaive. She got up, racing towards him as the gunman kicked the door into an abandoned apartment building.

* * *

"HQ, this is Dispatch 2-3. I have eyes on subject Blizzard pursuing final hostile attempting to flee the scene. Please advise."

"Dispatch 2-3, pursue and neutralize final hostile, and apprehend subject Blizzard with any means necessary."

"Roger that."

Kristoff broke into a run, in hot pursuit of the white vigilante that just breached an abandoned apartment. He felt his baton attached to his belt, then dropped the empty ammunition clip from his pistol and slid a fresh one in, making sure he heard the click before he entered the building.

* * *

He was here.

Somewhere.

In one of these rooms.

A crash directed her attention. Elsa rushed into the room, almost straight into the path of the barrel he was aiming. Without thinking Elsa flung her shield, knocking the man back. Instinctively, he pulled the trigger, the bullet going completely off target. Half-panicked herself Elsa tackled the man to the wall, then throwing him toward the ground, launching off a kick that knocked his gun out of his hand. It was a mistake; the man pulled her down to the ground, fist swinging towards her face; her hand tensed and raised, blocking the blow, simultaneously pushing herself away and onto her feet. The man himself also got up, drawing a switchblade from his pocket, ejecting the blade. Elsa primed the scallops on her gauntlets, curved metal plates ejecting outwards with a satisfying click.

"Is that all you got?" the man taunted. "I expected more from the infamous Blizzard. For someone with gifts like yours, I expected someone deadlier, more efficient. And this is all you are? A girl in over her head?"

_Taunts. Focus, Elsa, don't let them get to your head._

"You're pathetic, you know. Can't even take us on in a good gunfight. Scared? 'Fraid of losing your pretty little—"

Elsa planted her foot on the glaive, flipping it up towards her and catching it by the handle, then faked out by pretending to swing, before lunging at the gunman with the edge of the snowflake glaive, slamming it straight into his face. Her ears thought they picked up the sound of bones cracking, but she didn't care. He was out cold.

Footsteps. Running footsteps reached her ear. Before she could do anything she heard the click of a pistol.

"Hands in the air!"

Her hand gripped the glaive ever tighter as she turned to face the officer that had just come to apprehend her. He was armed, and she was pretty sure that he wasn't going to hold back his shots.

"I'm not the one you want," she said, fully realizing the potential innuendo, and also how useless that statement that might be.

"Sure you are. The whole force is looking for you," came the reply.

She stared him down, her white mask masking her features slowly filling with a tinge of fear. The officer took a few steps towards her, pistol still aiming towards her head. That was a mistake. "You can give up now, or we can do this the hard way."

"I'll take the hard way, please."

Elsa slammed her glaive upwards, knocking the gun from his hand. Frantic, the officer drew his baton, swinging wildly in her direction, but she blocked the blow and disarmed him again, reducing the officer to using his fists for combat. "This is not a fight you're going to win. Not this one, at least."

The officer was defiant. "I bringing you in, whether you like it or not."

"I'm not the one causing this," Elsa stated curtly. "I need to find out what's going on. Look at this guy." She pointed towards the motionless body on the floor. "They just robbed a bank, and didn't take any loot. Something's going on, and I need to find out."

"That's our job."

"And you're doing a fine job of it, too. If you really could handle it, why is the crime rate still so high? If you really could handle it, why were at least seven of your officers killed in that gunfight?"

Silence.

"There's more to petty crimes going on around here. Someone's up to something. I need to figure it out."

Radio chatter. "Dispatch 2-3, we are sending reinforcements to your position. Do you have eyes on Blizzard?"

She watched as the officer's features changed ever so slightly as he hesitated. Then he reached for his radio unit. "In pursuit."

"Copy that, reinforcements are arriving."

"You have five seconds to get out of here," the officer said, picking up his baton, then picked up the pistol and aimed it at Elsa. "I won't shoot. But leave. Now."

Without a second thought Elsa turned and leapt out from a window, smashing the glass and firing the grapple, swinging away from the building.

* * *

Kristoff stood at the broken window, looking in the direction which Blizzard had swung off to. Then he picked up his radio unit. "This is Dispatch 2-3. I lost her."

"Dammit. Okay, pack up whoever's still around and head back to the station. EM crews are arriving on site."

The familiar blare of sirens filled the air as Kristoff stood in the room, pondering over her words. He didn't even notice the other officers walk into the room. "Kristoff. C'mon, let's get outta here."

"Got it, just-just gimme a sec."

What was going on, indeed. There was clearly more to this than he thought. But for now, he was in no position to do anything.

_Whatever you're doing, Blizzard, I hope it's the right thing._

_And you better be bloody right about what's going on._

The wind picked up, and the howling began. Amidst the sirens came the snow, the heavy snow that signaled the impending storm and the deadly gales, and only told Arendelle's inhabitants that they had got it lucky for now.

For the worst was yet to come.


	4. Chapter 4

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 4_

Sunlight.

Chirping.

A soft wind.

Anna's eyes opened gently to the scenery outside the open window.

Then she looked at the time.

"OH SHIT!" Frantically she threw herself out of bed, washed up, grabbed her stuff and was out her apartment in no time. She was late. Disastrously late. The professors' weren't going to like it.

* * *

Crouched on the rooftop, Elsa watched her roommate frantically leave the building. There was something unmistakably distinct about her that made Elsa like her so much. She smiled as she watched Anna frantically dash into the campus.

Then she descended back into the apartment.

Her cover of leaving a note on the coffee table that she had left early was now redundant; evidently Anna had rushed out far too fast to notice it. But that was unimportant; her work needed to be finished, then she could get some rest. She deployed her laptop, a high-tech, heavily modified computer, already running her standard hacking programs, scanning through the city databases and monitoring systems.

_What would a gang of gunmen want if they blow up a bank without stealing anything?_

Her laptop's screens split into three more ultra-thin screens, bringing up more windows on traffic movements, CCTV footages, heat signatures; anything that could help her track the gunmen down to where they deployed from. Now that she knew there was definitely something very, very fishy, then she knew how to look, and who to look for. She drew the glaive from her suit's back and checked it for damage. None at present.

She keyed in a few commands into the computer, ordering it to locate the various cameras the vicinity of the bank vault and scan the footage. She needed to know where the gunmen came from.

In the meantime Elsa hit a few commands into her gauntlet, broadcasting a remote signal to her weapon stashes located around the city. For the past 10 years of her life, since she had decided to become a vigilante, she had planned her stash locations. When she was 15 years old she minimized the staff in her ancestral home so she could implement her plans in relative privacy. Her father's weapons company turned into a resource for her to develop weapons and attain revenue. Remotely she used it to plant stashes of weapons across the country should the need ever arise. And thanks to her financial and legal advisors, Kai and Gerda, her actions were never discovered. When she was 18, and after completing her combat courses she had been training with for almost all her life, she started her campaign as Blizzard (or at least, that was what she was called).

Now, her planning was about to be put to the test. If something was really going on, then she was really going to need all the equipment and resources she could get her hands on.

She programmed the drone to perform a remote drop onto the dump behind her apartment; she would retrieve that once her computer once done scanning the footage. Right now, she undressed from her suit and hung it in her wardrobe, making sure to hide it behind her other clothes. There was no reason the dry-clean it. She didn't sweat.

But the reason why was another secret she didn't want to bring up.

A beep. Her program had finished its scan. Elsa looked back at the screens, watching as the computer plotted out the traces of cameras that tracked the gunmen, from the time the disembarked to assault the vault to the time they were still driving in their van towards the building. She scanned through the program's report.

_There we go._ She stared at the reticule that had popped up on the rendering of the city map. _Found you._

Now she knew where to look. But in the meantime, there were other priorities to take care of.

Like a certain redhead she shared a room with.

* * *

Anna struggled to stay awake. It was fantastic how she couldn't have fallen asleep yesterday, and apparently the cure for her "insomnia" was her professor's droning and monotonous voice. She had half a mind to record it and play it at night, just so she could go to sleep. It didn't help that she still had fencing classes afterwards, and she couldn't just sit on the sidelines. She was one of the team's best fencers; sitting out simply wasn't an option. She rubbed her eyes, letting her mind daydream away from the lecture she was still in.

Somehow she wandered back to her roommate.

It was probably a ridiculous amount of good luck she was experiencing. Soon after she moved in she gets saved by a masked vigilante from thugs attempting to capture her, and then she gets a fantastically gorgeous roommate that she met online. Elsa was something quite out of this world. Anna loved her facial features, her platinum blonder hair, her curvy figure; hell, she had to play with herself three times before she could go to sleep—

She cringed. She most certainly didn't have to remind herself of that. That was embarrassing, of all the things she had probably done in her life. All things considered, getting turned on by your new roommate was beyond a new level of weird. Or at the very least, Anna was finding excuses to cover up her shame.

Her phone beeped. She sighed, half annoyed that something had decided to interrupt her daydream. Almost indignantly she picked up the phone and read the message.

-_Where are you? Still in class?_-

Anna's face practically lit up. It was Elsa.

-_Yeah. Really boring. And I've still got fencing after this…_-

-_Wait, you're an artist AND a fencer? Damn girl, that's one hell of a resume you have there!_\- Anna couldn't help but let a smile creep across her face. To her relief, she was sitting at the back of the theatre, so her professor wasn't about to call on her anytime soon.

Another message. -_Meet me after all your classes at the garden before your fencing training. Got a small treat for you._\- Treat?! Anna started panicking, she hadn't got anything for Elsa herself. _No no no no no, I need to get her something. I don't want her to think I'm insincere—!_

The shrill alarm signaling the end of class cut through her thoughts, causing her to jump in surprise. Anna packed up her stuff as soon as she could, already brainstorming on what to get for Elsa. _Dammit. I barely know her, how am I supposed to know what to get her?_

* * *

Chocolate.

The wrappers were everywhere: on her table, in the trash, in her clothes pockets; Elsa could easily tell what her favourite food was. She didn't know why she felt the sudden urge to get Anna a gift, she just knew she wanted to make her happy. The store nearby would contain the necessary products. But she still had some unfinished business to take care off.

The whoosh of her UAV reached her ears soon enough, followed by a secondary whoosh, and a crack as her pod hit the pavement at the dump behind her apartment building. _There's the package._ Getting the item out would be easy; Elsa turned to contemplate the problem of how to hide the pod. Eventually she just decided that she would have to leave it, for it was unlikely that Anna would connect a random pod with her presence in her room.

Her next problem was what to wear.

Elsa had never been very good with clothes; she'd never needed particularly fancy clothes, and spending ten years on the street and ten years up in a mansion had done nothing to improve her sense of fashion. She sighed. The only things she learned were what clothes were needed to cause a distraction, what clothes were needed to conceal weapons, and what outfit to wear for combat. As she descended the steps of the apartment block she pondered over the issue, her mind mentally scrolling through the outfits still stuck in her wardrobe, untouched for ages. She never really needed them; most of her time was spent alone, researching or practicing or training. She never went out to meet friends, let alone boys, or girls for that matter.

She was a hyper-lethal vector. With all the skills necessary to outsmart and outplay even the deadliest of criminals.

So why she nervous about meeting her roommate?

The pod hissed after she input her palm recognition, revealing the equipment load within. Hefting the package by the straps, she lifted it back up to the apartment, stowing it inside her room behind a guitar.

_Oh yes. That thing._ She took a forlorn look at the instrument, again untouched since she had committed to her vigilante double life.

She was nothing like Anna. Not as open, not as cheery, hell, not as normal as her. Elsa ended up in front of her open wardrobe, pondering why all her clothes seemed so alien to her, and the only things she had left that were familiar to her were her suit and the snowflake glaive. Everything else didn't register in her brain, all shut out because they didn't help her carry out her job.

For the first time forever, she was insecure.

Unsure.

_Who am I?_

* * *

She had dressed in full fencing gear when she rushed up to the rooftop garden, her heart pounding from both the exertion and trepidation.

And there she was.

Crouching in a semi-ninja pose upon a parapet, dressed in khakis and a white t-shirt, her silhouette illuminated by the afternoon sun. A smile crept across her face. "So what is it?"

Anna caught the bag that Elsa tossed her, barely able to mask her excitement as she opened the paper bag. "OHMYGOSHHH!" she practically screamed. "Chocolate!"

Elsa smiled as she watched her roommate practically go crazy just looking at the stuff – she hadn't even tasted it. Earlier she had decided to give up on getting chocolate from the nearby store; she had a stash of those with her weapon caches, so she made another drone drop outside their apartment building with the chocolate, deliberately checking to make sure it was of premier quality. Just watching Anna spazz over her gift gave her a warm fuzzy feeling that she couldn't quite understand yet.

"Where'd you get this?"

"Online. I ordered a sample."

"The delivery was that fast?"

"I have fast couriers."

"I er, kinda have something for you too."

That was a surprise. She certainly wasn't expecting that. _Goddammit, Elsa, you can predict where people intend to snipe your brains out and you didn't anticipate anything like this?_

Anna drew a box – leather box – from her bag still slung upon her shoulder, producing a gleaming watch from within. "Anna," Elsa gasped, "I can't accept that. I'm serious. That is far too expensiv—"

"It's fine. My dad can afford a lot of things."

"Your… dad?"

"Yeah. He runs the Weaselton Company. See that big building down over there?" Anna pointed down the road towards the large facility cum office, with the large WEASELTON signage hanging on its side. "That's his office. He gets things pretty fast too."

"But this—"

"Just take it," Anna placed the box in Elsa's hands, giving her a reassuring smile, but also exploiting the opportunity to wrap her hands around Elsa's. _God, that feels so good._ "It's the least I could do."

"Least?" Elsa's eyes widened in half-skepticism and half-disbelief. "This costs at least three thousand bucks!" The silver watch gleamed brilliantly amidst the sun's rays, but it wasn't the heat that Elsa felt. It was warmth.

"Just keep it, alright? I gotta run!" She watched as the fencer evaded Elsa's grasp and dashed down the steps. Elsa watched her disappear into the stairwell, and a smile crept upon a face.

She took up her job as a vigilante to make people feel better by saving them, relieving them from fear. She thought that was the only way she could help.

But now, Elsa realized that helping people wasn't just about saving the helpless, or beating up the gangs in the town. It was also about making people happy.

Today, she made one person happy.

And she didn't plan to stop there.

* * *

"You are kidding me."

"Unfortunately sir, they were all apprehended."

"I provided you with AUTOMATIC RIFLES, a ROCKET PROPELLED GRENADE, tactical information on the APD's officer deployments, response times, and SWAT forces. And you're telling me, that a SINGLE VIGILANTE was somehow still able to take a gang of 8 ARMED MEN down?!"

"Ye…Yes sir."

"Fools! Useless idiots! I'm not even going to bother intervening during the trial. It's a complete waste of my time. I didn't even ask you guys to do anything constructive, just to make her USE HER BLOODY CRYOKINESIS!"

"She seems to be rather reluctant to do so, sir."

"I am aware of that, you dense little shit."

"…so what do we do now, sir?"

"We only know her as Subject 17. The rest of the information was lost. Till we can find that information, we keep this up. If we can, expose her identity. That will make things a lot easier."

"Do we have another target?"

"I believe we do. Gather as many available forces as you can. Then take the university. Don't kill any hostages, just flush her out. You have two options. You can either kill her, or if you can't, expose her powers and/or identity. Either way, I'm going to enjoy this very, very much.

"We'll find you soon enough, Blizzard.

"And the snow won't protect you no more."


	5. Chapter 5

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 5_

"Let's move, move! We've got to take the whole place under lockdown before the first response can get here!" Petersburg cocked the rifle and slid the magazine into the chamber, making sure it clicked, before slinging it over his back and embarking onto the van. It was morning, early morning, when the first rays of light had begun to penetrate the cloud layer above, illuminating the city below. It was a beautiful, serene sight.

Well, things were about to change.

The tires screeched upon the tarmac below as the vans, carrying a total load of 30 armed gunmen, sped down the road, their occupants checking their equipment to make sure everything was up and operational. "Alright," Petersburg called out. "We have two options. One, we can force her to expose her own ice powers, and her identity if possible—"

"Boss, how do we know if she even does have ice powers?" someone interrupted.

"I was getting to that. Since we can't say for sure, our other option is to kill her. Frankly, I'd find that option much easier to execute."

Laughter. "Let's go take her out, then we won't have to worry about some girl interfering in our affairs."

The vans neared the university campus, their drivers expertly maneuvering past the remaining vehicles on the road, and completely ignoring the traffic lights. Petersburg wondered if that would have compromised their mission, but decided that the extra speed would help too. The vans screeched to a halt.

"Go go go!" Unslinging the rifle, Petersburg leapt out from the open door of the building, aiming down the sights of the AK47. Two guards came yelling, drawing their sidearms. A quick flick of the wrist and pull of the trigger sent two bursts of devastating lead streams ripping through their useless fabric clothing, offering next to no protection against bullets. He held up two fingers and pointed towards the two blocks of buildings, ordering them to round up the students, and send them to the grand hall for hostage. Almost as an afterthought he hammered his chest, just to make sure the Kevlar armour was still on him. It was.

It had begun.

* * *

Gunfire.

_Anna._ That was the first thought that came to her mind.

Elsa was in the grand hall, taking a stroll, when she heard it. Years of training had made her ears super sensitive to sound, and years of being a vigilante had trained her listen out for very, very specific sounds. And on the comparative, gunfire was very, very obvious.

She was almost shocked with herself. The first thing she thinks had no longer become _protect the students,_ but rather _protect Anna._

_Screw it, Elsa, this is not the time to think of these things!_ She had not expected an attack on their university, never in her wildest dreams would she have ever expected it. Something very fishy was going on, and she intended to find out. The only gear she still had on her was her gauntlets, concealed by a long leather jacket.

It would have to do. Pulling up her sleeves, she keyed in the coordinates for a suit remote drop. Now wasn't the time to think of the practicalities of hiding the suit; if she had to choose between her identity being exposed and almost hundreds of lives being massacred, she'd gladly choose the former as a consequence. The roof garden. She would have to get there undetected. But she had someone to take care of first.

Her phone's call got through. "Anna? Where are you? You need to get out of there—"

"Ohy my god Elsa, there are men with guns blazing, they are massacring the guards and rounding the others up! I got out in time, I'm heading up the sports block."

"Anna, you need to listen to me very carefully," Elsa said, trying to keep calm. _Fuck it. If Anna guesses my double identity it doesn't matter. I need her safe right now._ "Get to the grand hall, and hide in the darkness of the third floor. They will come here, and they will sweep the building. When the get to the third floor, move towards the stage, and behind the props backstage."

"Okay. But how do you know—"

"Please. Just trust me."

"…okay. On my way."

Her heart's beating increasing, Elsa found herself desperately concerned for Anna's well-being. _She's my roommate, I have to care for her—_

Footsteps.

_Fuck._ The ETA on her gauntlets read 5 minutes. She would have to maneuver past all the guards, take some out if necessary, avoid police detection, and procure her suit within that same duration. This was truly a test of her skill; every ounce of her training would come into play, and she couldn't even guarantee her own survival.

But she had to. The lives of hundreds of students depended on it.

* * *

"All available units, we have a massive security compromise on Arendelle University. Anyone who can hear this, redirect immediately towards the campus, and secure the building. Intel gives us about 30 armed hostiles rounding up students towards the grand hall. Do not assault the building without any further instruction. Your orders are to secure to perimeter, and make sure no one gets in or out."

"Oh, fuck." Kristoff's heart sank when he heard the phrase "Arendelle University". He slammed his feet against the accelerator as he made a sharp turn, going at full speed towards the campus. _Please be okay, Anna. I'm not losing a friend after knowing you for 10 years._

Screeching to a halt outside the perimeter, Kristoff noticed the barricade already being set up. He disembarked, radioing HQ. "HQ, this is Dispatch 2-3, I am on site. No SWAT teams in sight."

"We are aware of that, Dispatch 2-3."

"The hell? Then why aren't they here yet?"

"We cannot send SWAT soldiers. Intel says these men are highly dangerous. Any attempted incursion will most certainly result in a massacre of the hostages."

_Fuck._ "Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Our orders are to secure the site and await a representative from the gunmen to start negotiations, if any."

"What the hell? Are we supposed to just sit here and do nothing?"

"We cannot risk the hostages' lives."

_This is bullshit. How the fuck are we supposed to get anyone out of there if we're not taking any action about it?_ Kristoff grunted in frustration as he drew his sidearm, eyes peeled for any movement.

* * *

Anna, still dressed in her fencing gear, crouched in the corner of the backstage props, her heart still thumping at an insanely fast pace. Questions raced through her mind just as the blood raced through her veins. _What's going on? Who are these people? Why are they even here?_

_More importantly, what the hell am I supposed to do? And where's Elsa? Oh god, I don't want her getting hurt. _

With shaking hands, she removed the blunted tip upon the end of her fencing blade. If it came down to a fight, this was all she would have. Her skills with a sword were decently good, but she didn't have the right sword. If only she could get the one still on display in the sports block…

_Wait. Where is __**she**__? _Anna's mind raced back to the night two days ago, where the masked vigilante had descended from the rooftops and saved her from an untimely fate. Surely she would be here now.

_But what good would it do? These people are better organized, better armed. Can she really do this?_

Anna could only pray. But right now, regardless whether Blizzard was coming or not, she'd needed to help herself. Elsa had given her a nod when she came in, almost telling her that she would take care of this. And as much as she trusted her roommate, she couldn't help but wonder what Elsa was going to do. More than that, she definitely didn't want her getting into any trouble.

Her eyes rested upon her fencing mask, a strange urge compelling her to put it on.

* * *

There was only one man who came down the corridor.

But there would be more. Elsa crouched behind the wall, training her hearing towards the sound of the gunmen scraping his feet across the floor of the entrance to the grand hall's second floor, her gauntlets scallops already primed. She needed to bait him; only then could she even hope to take him down without getting shot or drawing a commotion that would most certainly get her killed. A stray marker had found its way underneath some spare equipment, so she grabbed it, and tossed it towards a hollow metal canister.

The clang was resounding.

Elsa's head ducked behind the wall immediately, almost as if she felt the gunmen's gaze whip around towards the sound. Her hands clenched tighter as she heard the footsteps get closer and closer, the gun cocking towards the passageway.

His shoe appeared from behind the wall.

Elsa's hands shot up, knocking the gun out of his hand, then slamming her elbow into his gut to make sure the air was knocked out of him to prevent the resultant scream. Taking advantage of his disorientation, she slammed the gauntlet scallops into the side of his face.

Surveying her handiwork, she gave him one last punch to his face, just to make sure. _One down, not sure how many to go._ She took one last look at the motionless body, her eyes settling upon the black handgun lying by his side. A wave of fear hit her as she realized the only way she could possibly make it through this.

With great hesitation, she picked up the gun.

Pain shot through her head as the flashbacks and nightmares returned to her, the smell of burning fuel and spilt blood, charred bodies and shredded flesh, and the distinct stench of gunpowder as the all too familiar "BANG" of the handgun replayed over and over again, haunting her memories and torturing her conscience, refusing to let her escape from this eternal nightmare—

She slammed a fist against the wall, waking herself up from the flashback.

_No._

_Not again._

_I can't do it again._

Her eyes closed in fear, shame and regret as the maelstrom of emotions ripped her heart to pieces, and a single, solitary tear rolled down the sides of her cheeks.

Something beeped. _3 minutes remaining._

She checked the magazine, put it back it, picked up three more and moved on. She would kill if, and only if, she was forced to or fired upon. She could endure the nightmares, the vomiting and the shaky hands for another few years. But right now, her priority was to get Anna and the rest of the students out safely. She'd suffer for them. That was her job.

* * *

"Where are they?"

"The majority of them are rounded up in the grand hall, and we've luckily managed to suppress them by killing a few who tried to attack us. They aren't about to attack us anytime soon."

"Dammit, we weren't supposed to kill them."

"Sorry boss, but they were armed with things deadlier than pens and paper. They were almost on us, so we pulled the trigger on them."

"Sigh… do what is necessary, but nothing more. Are you already sweeping the rest of the blocks?" Petersburg stood in the open area in the middle of the university, looking towards the grand hall where their hostages were, his grip tightening on the rifle. This seemed easy, far too easy. The resistance encountered by the security guards was already predicted to be a piece of cake, but Blizzard hadn't shown up. That didn't make a lot of sense.

"Yes sir. We have our men sweeping the remaining blocks as we speak."

"Any sign of Blizzard?"

"Nope. We have guys on the lookout though."

"Good. Keep me posted, I'm gonna contact the boss."

Petersburg withdrew a phone from his pocket and hit the quick-dial. "Boss, we've got the place secured, resistance eliminated and hostages rounded up."

"_Any sign of Blizzard?_"

"None as of yet. We've got guys sweeping the buildings and on lookout for the vigilante."

"_Very good. Let's keep it that way. Make sure you carry out what I asked you to._"

The line cut off. Petersburg resumed his post on the open area, idly checking his rifle. He had nothing to worry about; so long as his boss was there, no SWAT teams or special ops was going to come through. He would take care of it. Right now, all that was left to do was to wait around for Blizzard to show up.

In the meantime, he could have some fun.

* * *

_Clang._

One gunman's ears pricked up to the sound of something metal crashing to the floor. He raised his weapon calmly, turning towards the direction of the sound, aiming down the corridor as he slowly made his way forward. His eyes narrowed as he looked down the sights, sensing something vaguely amiss, but couldn't pinpoint what.

For one, he couldn't find the object that had fallen on the floor.

Something heavy whacked into the back his head, hard, knocking stars into his eyes and for a minute he seemed to be flying, but crashed onto the floor a second later.

The last thing he saw was a white figure with a strange mask slamming something heavy straight into his forehead, and then he blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 6_

"Sir, we're detecting a high-speed airbourne object coming in over the city."

"What the hell? Try to establish contact with him and get him to stand down."

"It's a UAV, sir."

"The hell?"

* * *

Her time was running out. The countdown on her gauntlets kept dropping at an alarmingly fast rate.

But she was getting nowhere.

Elsa crouched behind the pillar, surveying the Sciences block from her vantage point. She had been able to pass into the humanities block, but was fully aware that there were bound to be people surveying the block. Her drop pod was coming fast, so she needed to secure her package before anyone could go up to check it out. The rooftop garden was visible from the pillar she hid behind, the long corridor linking the two blocks remaining empty for now. And if she didn't get moving, that would change pretty quickly.

There was one guard on the top of the building, patrolling the garden. _Fuck. That's a snag._

She was tempted to shoot him.

Very tempted.

But no, she made a promise. For her sake and the others'. She wouldn't shoot unless—screw this. This was absolutely necessary. Elsa aimed the pistol towards the guard's head.

Then she changed her mind. She pulled the trigger.

_BANG! _The bullet slammed into the gunman's forearm, eliciting a cry of pain. Elsa dashed across the corridor, re-priming the scallops on her gauntlets as she ran towards the nearest stairwell. Her gunshot was attracting attention; if she was going to get to the top, not only did she have to beat the gunmen there first, but also find a way to hold them off so that she could put on her suit fast. The suit dropping in was the mobile suit, so it would wrap around her body and suit up fast, but offered reduced protection. If she were to be hit by firearms, she wouldn't be able to take it.

Her heart thudded in trepidation when she heard the dreaded words "Contact detected, moving in to neutralize!" yelled from below her, within the same stairwell. Quickly, she untied her hair to cover her face, reducing the chance of anyone being able to collectively and conclusively identify her even after this confrontation. Gunfire rose up to meet her, sparks flying as lead rounds glanced off the metal handlebars along the stairwell of the science block.

The stairwell ended on the second top floor. A second staircase guarded the entrance to the rooftop garden. Elsa looked at the pistol in her hands, dread filling her heart as she exited the stairwell into the large, exposed corridor of the laboratory level.

2 gunmen came running from separate directions. Elsa dropped to her knees, sliding across the floor as she opened fire on the right gunman, firing at his hands. The bullets connected and the man dropped the rifle before he could fire off a shot. As a stream of deadly lead shredded the floor behind her Elsa continued with her momentum and dashed towards the injured gunman and unceremoniously knocked him out, swinging around to open fire at the other gunman's hands. She hit one hand and missed the other, so she aimed for his kneecaps, this time succeeding in hitting both. She would deal with him later, but she needed to keep running.

The final stairwell. As she dashed past the shutter gates one more armed man appeared, and Elsa's heart practically stopped. In a moment of panic (and forgetting she had no glaive) she flung the pistol at the man. Reflexively he raised the rifle to cover his face, so Elsa lunged towards him, slamming into the man and knocking his head heavily against the opposing wall. Pushing herself off the body she dashed up the steps, the countdown finally reaching five seconds.

_Come on._

_Come on. _

She heard the whoosh of the UAV and the small "poof" sound before the pod slammed into the rooftop garden floor. Elsa slammed her hand upon the recognition scanner and engaged the opening sequence. Without bothering to look she stepped into the suit, its "smart" microfibers enwrapping her like an ice encasing. She grabbed the glaive from the sides of the pod and slid them into the attacher on the suit, leaping from the pod just as she saw an ominous black sphere roll right in front of her. The grenade detonated.

Elsa was flung off the side of the roof, but not before she shot the grapple onto the rooftop of the humanities block, preventing her from falling, but the momentum kept her going, causing her to slam hard against the side of the building. A sharp pain slammed through her head as she inadvertently disengaged the grappling hook, falling a full two stories to the ground with a loud slam. Her vision whited, then the lights came back into focus, as did the yells to secure her get louder and footsteps get closer.

_No…_

_Can't… rest… now…_

_Upon this day I hereby swear—_

_The forces of evil will cower in fear…_

_Ne'er rest, till they flee in fright,_

_From the great power of the snowstorm's might…_

Elsa forced herself off the ground, slamming her glaive onto the pavement to push herself up. With a gargantuan effort she lunged towards the nearest pillar as lethal bullets came flying, clattering all around her.

_God—_

_Fricking—_

_Dammit—_

Elsa leapt from the pillar, shielding herself with her glaive as she lunged away from the building. The last thing she wanted was a crossfire situation where innocent people would be killed. _No, I can't let more people die. For their sake. For my sake. I cannot afford that._

Footsteps from all sides. This was a crossfire. Her head still spinning from her earlier fall and over-exertion during her fast maneuvers, she failed to see four people flanking her as dashed towards the sports block, until they were much, much closer.

She only realized she had to take action when it was too late.

Something slammed into the side of her head, rendering her extremely dizzy. Her vision blurred out, and her hearing impaired. Reflexively she ducked and rolled, while further increasing her state of impaired judgment saved her from four streams of deadly bullets. Her vision slowly coming back into focus and her mind sharpening little by little, Elsa threw the glaive, catching one gunman in the gut, then jabbing forward with her own fists to catch him off balance. That gave her a small window. She grabbed the glaive again and lunged, catching one more gunman with the weapon, and flipping the next one off his feet. The last gunman aimed a pistol down at her, but she slammed the blade into his hand and kept running. Elsa was outnumbered. Very badly. She wouldn't be able to keep this up.

_Well at the least I'll go to my grave with no regrets._

She raced up the stairs of the sports block, her footstep echoes a ridiculously loud indicator of her location. Hastily she leapt out the window, crashing through the glass and firing her grapple to the roof, feeling the hard yank before she ascended the building, flying towards the relative safety of the roof—

Something else slammed straight into her face, her momentum causing her to flip and land face up on the roof. Whiteness enveloped her vision, her head's searing pain cutting through her mind like a razor, her hearing filling up with a sound-blocking static buzz.

Her white sky filled up quickly with a black fire, vague shapes moving around. Elsa couldn't see clearly, but what was left of her rational brain could only comprehend two things; that his motions were that of loading a gun, and there was something wet dripping down the side of her head.

She closed her eyes. _Upon this day I swear—_

A loud sound.

Nothing.

It wasn't a gunshot.

Her eyes flickered open as someone grabbed by her the shoulders, her mind still not fully comprehending what was going on. Her eyes first rested upon the corpse of a gunman that had somehow appeared next to her, and as she was dragged across the floor her head fell back, her platinum blonde hair falling back, giving her a full unobstructed view of a girl in a white fencing suit with the unmistakable fencing helmet mounted upon her head.

_Anna._

* * *

She saw the white figure fly up to the rooftop.

Then the gunman slammed the butt of his rifle into her forehead, forcing her to flip and land on the ground, hard.

Anna had panicked as she watched the vigilante fight off her attackers. Originally Anna had gone to the roof to survey her surroundings, but upon finding the patrol gunman she had promptly hidden. That was when she heard the aircraft fly past, and Blizzard seemingly jump out from nowhere, almost getting blown up by a grenade in the process.

Now her former savior was lying on the ground, seemingly unable to fight back, and had a gunman standing above her, cocking his pistol.

Without what realizing what she was doing she moved up, hefting the metal pole she had found for a huge swing. The edge connected with the back of the gunman's head with a loud crack, and he collapsed to the floor. _Not on my watch, you piece of shit_, Anna found herself thinking.

But Blizzard was still unable to move.

_The first aid room._ Anna rushed over towards Blizzard, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her along the ground. Conveniently enough, and probably due to Anna's insane luck, it was one floor below the roof. Anna kicked open the stairway door as she dragged her companion bit by bit towards their eventual destination. _Shit. If any gunmen come running right now we are so, so dead._

She found the first aid room, quickly shoving her charge inside, then shutting the door gently and locking the door shut. Her hands, still grabbing onto her makeshift weapon, were now sweaty from both exhaustion and fear. She stood at an en garde stance, because it was more than likely that someone was going to check the door, after they practically saw Blizzard fly up the building.

Hasty footsteps. The door rattled. Then the footsteps left.

There were a few breathless moments before Anna galvanized herself to action. She trained herself in first aid; she got lots of cuts as a kid, being the klutz that she was, but she also knew something like that would come in handy. Already Blizzard's white suit seemed to be stained with a dark shade of red, her mask having mild traces of it already.

Gently, she shook the body on the floor. "Can you hear me?" she whispered. Eyelids flickered; Anna moved herself over her face to block out the glaring and invading room light the was shining straight into those same blue eyes. _They look so… familiar…_

The figure raised a hand to her head, the eyes wincing as they did. Anna tore a bandage from the first aid materials in the room, and motioned to remove the mask. The same hand suddenly clamped down onto hers, the vice-like grip giving her a shock. "Shh… it's okay," Anna removed her own fencing helmet as she looked at Blizzard. "It's fine. I promise I won't tell anyone."

Blizzard grunted, seemingly from pain and frustration. "It's… not about that. It's about… people targeting you. To get… to me. I'd be putting… a death sentence on you."

"I don't care," Anna stated firmly. "I owe you one, now it's time I help you."

"You have no… idea how this could hurt you…" her voice trailed off, clearly from pain. Anna sighed as she clenched her fist down on the bandage.

"You can't just bleed out like this, and you're in no condition to put this on yourself. Please." She placed her hand over the mask. "Let me help you."

Silence.

Pure silence.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" _Wait. That voice._

"For not telling you." Off came the mask.

And Anna stared straight into Elsa's battered, bleeding, and seemingly broken face, a sense of resignation and sadness overcoming her features as she watched the realization strike the fencer.

* * *

_What have I done?_

_You promised, Elsa. You promised. You promised you would never hurt her._

_What have you done now?_

The shame and regret threatened to overwhelm her, to take her back to that cold dark place in hell, its tendrils already tugging at her sanity. _What have you done Elsa? Why did you do it? You just doomed someone's life forever, and as long as you insist on what you do you will always harm the people around you. This is your fate. No one will ever care for you, and the ones that do will end up dead, just like the rest. You are a curse to this land, you don't belong here, you deserve to  
__DIE—_

She opened the eyes she hadn't realized she'd been closing. No, there was no snowstorm, there was no energy left for her to run, to hide.

Not from Anna's gaze.

_I deserve this._

Her head fell back, her platinum blonde hair splayed across the floor, tears streaking down her cheeks. Anna's gaze didn't divert. Her heart, oh her poor, poor heart couldn't take it, mentally screaming for Anna to _look away, please, I'm begging you, I can't take this pain anymore—_

Anna placed the cool bandage over her wound, wrapping the white fabric around her head, catching stray hairs in the process. Her hands were clumsy, but somehow Elsa didn't mind. Maybe she just couldn't really care anymore, not after what she had just done to her. Not after how she had basically completely fucked her over.

Her eyes closed again.

* * *

_Elsa-?_

No, this couldn't be happening. Her roommate was the masked vigilante that had saved her from 3 days before?

_Does she know who I am? Of course she does, she probably remembers so many things..._

Elsa had shut her eyes tightly, unwilling to look at Anna, her lips quivering with sobs and fear.

_Oh Elsa... if only you had told me..._

Anna couldn't find it in her to get mad at Elsa. It wasn't her fault (was it?) that she decided to do this. She understood why Elsa couldn't tell her, but at the same time...

_No, I can't let this change my judgement of her. She - this is a part of who she is. It's not her fault_...

So she uttered first of a three-word phrase that would change her life forever.

* * *

"I don't mind."

Elsa's deep blue eyes opened in confusion.

"Even if you had told me when we had first met, I wouldn't have run."

Elsa looked up towards Anna, now kneeling by her side. "There's something about you, that makes you, profoundly noble. Courageous. Selfless.

"How I could I ever be mad?"

"Anna," Elsa choked back a sob, and she watched Anna's face visibly sadden. "I just made you a target. A target for anyone to attack if they want to get to  
me—"

"Elsa—"

"You will get hurt—"

"Elsa!"

"And I'm just so, so scared I can't prevent that from happening—"

"ELSA!"

_Crack._ Her head jerked sharply to the left, the pain only penetrating to her nerves a split second later. "Oh my god, I'm – I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—"

"It's fine," Elsa said weakly. "I… I deserve it. Much more than that."

"No, you don't. You deserve so much better." Anna clasped her hand, but Elsa didn't feel the least bit comforted. "It takes a lot for someone to decide to do this."

"I don't have anything to take."

"What do you mean—"

Elsa placed a finger on her lips.

Then she heard it too. Footsteps.

* * *

Petersburg skidded down the hallway, sliding in a new ammunition clip into the rifle. Damn she was fast. He scanned the hallways, his grip getting ever tighter on the rifle. After he had seen the vigilante fly up the building, his men had scrambled for the elevator. Only after about five minutes did they realize it had been down for maintenance prior to their arrival, and afterwhich they had taken the arduous task of scaling the 7 floors of the sports block.

So just like that, they had lost her.

He swore under his breath. This was bullshit. He had fought her just now, and determined she wasn't that good of a fighter, only knowing how to disarm and run – and just like that, due to a stupid mistake, they had lost their primary objective.

"Boss!" One of his men came running. "We've got a group of students breaking out of the main group in the grand hall. We need to resweep the school."

"Fuck. Get to it." Petersburg himself took off, readying his gun.

But had he stayed, and had he been more observant, he would have noticed light streaming out from behind what was apparently, and supposed to be, a locked door.

* * *

"I know you're not in the best of shape, emotionally and physically. But we need your help."

Elsa pushed herself off the ground, the swirling storm of emotions still raging within her. Anna grabbed her arm and helped her back up to her feet.

"Please. We can sort this out later." Anna's pleading, almost begging face struck some chord deep inside her. It hurt her more to know that despite what she had just gotten Anna into, she wasn't fully comprehending the nature of the situation, and that eventually, it would come back to hurt her, to haunt her.

And Anna still gave her a small smile, attempting to mask her fear, just so they could get through this together.

The guilt welled up inside her.

Yes. She could pay for what she did later. But right now, she had other priorities to take care of.

Elsa grabbed her glaive, feeling its lightweight body and clasping it gently. Her emotions were unstable yes, but she could control it. Could she? Elsa took one deep breath. And another. And another. Her maelstrom of feelings was replaced by one focused, concentrated thought. One of anger. One of hate.

_They will all pay._


	7. Chapter 7

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 7_

3 hours.

3 long, agonizing hours of doing nothing, while the lives of hundreds of innocent students hung in the hands of a group of 30 armed men, all of them lacking the remorse and moral duty to refrain from killing people.

Kristoff was getting restless. _What the hell is going on? 3 full hours and not even a single SWAT team or a mobile command center shows up at this place? The fuck is HQ doing? People are going to die!_

Amidst the empty streets and the howling wind only the original, meagre response team of ordinary police officers, the arms drawn guarded the place. There was no traffic; a barricade had been set up around the university in a 1 kilometer radius, preventing any traffic from moving in. That was redundant, since the purpose of the barricade was to ensure police operations went smoothly.

There were no police operations going on.

Kristoff slammed his fist on the table. He had watched the small skirmish. He had watched as four men converged on Blizzard, weapons blazing, to the point where she had almost been overrun until she threw herself out a window and latched on to the roof with what appeared to be a grappling device. Then there had been silence, and while no gunmen were visible to the police outside HQ forbade them from even sending a small force in the hopes of taking down whoever was still left within the building.

He had watched Blizzard almost get overrun.

He couldn't just rely on her to get the job done.

"HQ, any updates on the situation?"

"Negative, Dispatch 2-3."

"What the hell are we supposed to do? Just sit back and wait?"

"Your orders are to secure the site, Dispatch 2-3. Do not override those orders."

Frustration overtook Kristoff once again by the lack of conclusive action. This wasn't like anything that had ever happened before; the standard procedure was to assault the captured building and get rid of the gunmen. Something was going on, something very strange, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

* * *

Petersburg's phone rang. "Yes boss?"

"_There is a certain police officer asking too many questions._"

"Where is he?"

"_He's securing the site on the east end of the campus. I provided you with one sniper rifle when you deployed; take him out. His patrol car is serial number AX334."_

"Copy that. Consider it done." _East end…_ "Where the hell is the sniper rifle?"

* * *

"Can you walk?" _What am I doing?_

"We're gonna need a lot more than walking if we're going to pull through this."

Anna helped Elsa stabilize herself. Her balance was still very questionable; she still needed the wall for support. It wasn't just her physical capability that she was questioning; Anna didn't really know whether they were dealing with this issue correctly, and she certainly didn't want this to damage their relationship. But there was something about the way Elsa carried herself, the way she swung her glaive to make sure her arm could work, that caused whatever negative emotions she had to suppress a little.

"I know I don't have the right to ask you this," Elsa began, "but I'm going to need your help."

_Help? Help with what? Why am I even doing this?_ "Shoot."

"How good are you with a handheld melee weapon?"

"I'm a fencer, remember? I train for this."

Elsa pulled out a gun from her belt. "Keep this, and only use it if absolutely necessary. I don't want people dying unnecessarily here." Anna clasped the handle of the pistol, the cold metal scaring her a little bit. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"You need my help, don't you?"

"I don't want you getting hurt." A wave of emotion washed through Anna the moment those words were uttered. "Honest. If I have to take all the fire then so be it—"

Anna placed a finger over her lips, signaling that she was ready. _This is crazy. Too, fucking, crazy._ "What do we have to do?"

"I have a plan."

* * *

"AX334…"

Petersburg hefted the rifle as he climbed the stairs of the auditorium, the heavy weapon weighing down his hands. He wasn't about to let that stop him; with the vigilante gone, he was going to have a lot of fun today. He pushed open the door to the roof, crouching immediately to avoid being spotted by any police officers who happened to be looking at the roof. Calmly, he slid a new ammunition clip into the chamber of the rifle, and deployed the stand, crawling towards the edge of the building.

"Found him." He sighted the police officer standing next to his car, his pistol still drawn. He would snipe the man, and then fall back immediately; his sniper fire would be sure to draw return fire, if shooting at people had taught him anything. Through the scope, he increased the magnification, making sure his aiming corresponded with the strong winds blowing from his left.

His finger tightened on the trigger.

Something slammed the rifle out of his grip, and he felt a sharp edge pound on the back of his head, and he blacked out.

* * *

Elsa had noticed the man with the sniper rifle ascend the stairs of the building. It wasn't a good sign. She heaved a sigh of relief as she made sure the man was out cold; by prodding him with the end of his rifle.

_Now for the hard part._

Grappling onto the edge of the building, she descended to a certain height, before leaping over the border of the campus—

—and straight into plain sight of all the police officers.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold it!" one of them yelled as they all drew their weapons, their firearms brought up to bear, intimidating barrels pointed straight at Elsa's head. Had her mask not been on, they were sure to have seen the look of pure fear splayed across Elsa's face. But she maintained her cool; she had to, or this would never work.

"Don't shoot! I'm not the one behind this."

"Dispatch, we have eyes of target Blizzard. Orders?"

"Neutralize her. Apprehend her at all costs."

"Goddammit, listen to me for once!" Elsa yelled, her rage already beginning to boil. She refused, just downright refused to leave without getting those people out of there. "I can't get these people out alone. I need your help."

"Surrender immediately!" Elsa recognized him; the cop she had met two days ago while fighting off the gang of armed robbers. She turned to him, her intense blue eyes staring him down.

"I can't do this without your help."

"If you go back in there, those people will kill everyone in there!"

"Use your heads! You're all cops!" Elsa went on. "Why the hell are a bunch of crooks assaulting a university of all places? Why the hell are a bunch of armed men blowing up a bank without stealing anything?" Already some of the officers had begun to look at each other uncertainly, but the officer she recognized continued to point the deadly firearm at her.

"It doesn't matter what they want; our priority is to make sure the hostages are safe—"

"They won't kill the hostages, you fools!" Elsa slammed the glaive on the road, her hands clenching as she walked towards the cops. "They're here for some other reason, but they don't have any advantage nor prerogative to kill them! I just need a force, a small force, to give me fire support in there!"

"The only thing you're getting is a pair of handcuffs."

"Please! If you want to take care of their safety, you have to help me!"

She watched the officer's expression change ever so slightly, as did the other officers. The radio crackled. "Dispatch, status report! Do you or do you not have Blizzard?"

The wind picked up speed, seemingly matching the tension of the situation. Elsa felt a single, solitary bead of cold sweat drip down the side of her head.

"Target was lost."

The officer ripped the radio from his uniform and shut it off. He looked straight at Blizzard. "What do you need?"

* * *

Anna slammed the pole into the back of the guard's head, watching the body crumple before her. She raided his corpse of magazines and ammunition, and kept going.

So far she had taken down three armed gunmen. But she had been extremely lucky, and she was fully aware that it could run out at any time.

The vigilante swung towards her, landed perfectly on the elevated walkway between the humanities and sciences block. "What happened while I was gone?"

"Few gunmen gone."

"How many exactly?"

"I've taken out 4." Something was different about Elsa. Was that… was that fear in her voice?

"That means we've taken out a collective total of 10 people. There's still 20 more gunmen not dealt with."

"Any ideas?"

"I've got some backup." _Backup? _

"Who are they?"

"Policemen." _Kristoff?_

"Was there one with a patrol car number plate AX334?"

"…yes."

Her heart sank. _Kristoff's here?! Oh god, please don't get hurt, please don't get hurt…_

"You ready for this?" Elsa looked at her. She had this way of just staring at Anna, almost as if she could see into her own soul, evaluating, judging. It scared Anna sometimes, but now it wasn't the time to be scared. "Frankly," Elsa went on, "I don't know if I'm ready for this either."

"You can do it." Anna tried to hide the trembling in her voice. "Listen, in case we don't make it—"

"We've got to." Her resolve had come back, Anna realized. The spark in those blue eyes was back.

And they were counting on that spark.

* * *

Petersburg awoke.

His head hurt. Badly. His vision clouded with blurs and dizziness enwrapped his mental state; he was unfit for combat.

He clenched his eyes shut, and opened them again.

_Click._ Metal bonds clamped shut around his hands, which he handed realized were already behind his back. The sound snapped Petersburg out of his reverie. His first reaction was to struggle, jingling the chain that held his hands fast to their handcuffs.

"Well now," someone said. "Looks like someone did our work for us. You've got a lot of explaining to do."

"You won't get anything out of me," Petersburg spat out. "I have powerful friends. Your interrogation won't yield anything—"

"Who said we were using the interrogation?"

Petersburg looked up at the officers surrounding him, standing atop the roof, their faces grim and determined. "Why the hell are you guys even storming this place?! Don't you guys have your orders—"

"They weren't worth it."

The turn of events knocked out some working function within Petersburg's brain; he didn't know how to react. _This – this wasn't supposed to happen. When did this – when – what?_

* * *

Kristoff sighted the grand hall from his position on the ground floor, as well as the gunmen standing outside, who hadn't seen them yet. He held up two fingers and signaled his fellow officers to move up. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the masked vigilante vaulting across the rooftops. She would go in first; their job was to take out whoever had been distracted by her, get into the hall and get the students out.

"I don't want them killed," she had said.

"We're officers. Our protocol is to kill them. There's no other way to neutralize such a threat."

"Fine, do what you must. But I'm not doing the killing."

He saw the shield fly, and the gunfire started. That was their cue. "Go!" he yelled, moving up to the nearest pillar, taking aim at the nearest gunman. He pulled the trigger, the pistol kicking back into his palm as he fired, and he watched the gunman wordlessly go down. The firing increased; sparks clattered off the floor near him as he ducked behind the pillar, and his fellow officers moved in to reinforce him. Something clattered to the ground near him.

"GRENADE!" someone yelled as he lunged from the pillar, the explosion flinging him a short distance away. He crashed into the floor, but forced himself up, ignoring the pain as he dodged the deadly hail of lead that threatened to rip him to shreds.

"Keep firing!" He emerged from his cover and fired wildly, the gunmen beginning to duck behind their own cover. Good, they were distracted. He watched as Blizzard descended upon them, slamming into them with her deadly glaive and wreaking havoc at close range. Guns were fired at her, but either by some pure luck and sheer skill she kept going. "Move up!" he yelled again, firing at another gunman as he approached the door of the great hall.

Bullets from a rooftop ripped through one of the officers as they rushed towards the entrance. "Shit! Get behind cover, we're being suppressed here!"

The zing of bullets maintained its high rate of fire as they hid behind pillars, flinching as bullets came a little too close for comfort. Then it stopped. Whoever that was firing on them was evidently reloading. "Find the bastard and take him out!"

* * *

Elsa slammed one more gunman aside, his attempt to sneak up on her thwarted. The sound of bullets hitting the ground near her forced her to take cover.

_That firing rate is fast. Must be an LMG._ She peeked from behind her cover the moment the bullets stopped firing in her direction. On the roof. It was indeed someone with a light machine gun, still firing at her allies suppressed behind some nearby pillars. "Find the bastard and take him out!" she heard Kristoff yell the moment the firing stopped. She deployed her grapple, firing it to latch onto the rooftop, flinging her towards the roof. Just before her body crashed into the side of the building she yanked down on the grapple for extra momentum, disengaging it the same movement to allow her to fly straight into the gunman, slamming into him with the edge of her glaive. She kicked the LMG off the roof and slammed his head back onto the ground, knocking him unconscious.

Then one, two bullets struck her in the back.

She cried out in pain, the red hot sensations slicing through her back as she collapsed to the ground. She planted her hands down as she attempted to get up, but already her vision was clouding with redness, and that red would soon turn to black if she didn't get up soon.

But it hurt oh, so bad.

Exhaustion entangled her limbs, dragging them down in its alluring grasp, as if someone had just begun to whisper in Elsa's ear, "_Rest now, my child. You are safe now. There is no more to worry for…_"

A flash of an image of Anna cut through her head. _NO!_ her mind screamed, as her head pulsated with pain. Her fist clenched into a tight ball as her muscles tensed, forcing herself back up into a standing position. _Not now—_

She staggered to her feet, swinging her arm, wincing as the wounds on her back stretched and contracted around the tiny pieces of lead embedded within. Her eyes clenched and opened again, her vision blurring as she attempted to blink it back. Then her outstretched arm fired the grapple, and then she stepped off the ledge of the roof.

The rope tightened, and became taught.

Elsa swung straight into a window of the grand hall's second floor, crashing through the glass knees first and slamming into the parapet. More nausea hit her, but the screaming was more evident.

_Wait. Screaming?_

Rifles cocked. "Stand down, you bitch," she heard from her left. "Or we're gonna shoot through the entire crowd below."

Her greatest fear. The only thing that could probably stop her. The worst dilemma possible. Because she knew that either way, _someone was going to end up dead_.

But her eyes remained wide open. Those intense blue irises dashed from left to right, scanning the area, mentally noting that there were only two gunmen on her left, and that they were near the window in which she had smashed into, and that unless there was someone standing directly below her there was no one on the opposite side to open fire on the students and teachers. But it was entirely likely; the students had already begun screaming.

She needed an opening.

And when she realized, Elsa smiled.

* * *

The door burst open loudly.

Anna yelled as she swung the pole, succeeding in deliberately attracting all the gunmen's attention. Her weapon slammed down hard onto the nearest gunman's skull, and she thought she heard a crack as she ducked behind a pillar and the others frantically scrambled to ready their rifles.

They didn't get to. The door burst open from the other side to the sound of Kristoff yelling "Everyone duck!" Screams were uttered as the policemen, now unobstructed, opened fire on the gunmen that had their backs turned to them.

The two gunmen on top turned, temporarily distracted. Elsa flung the glaive, catching one in the stomach as she leapt, her fist sent swinging as she punched the first gunmen out cold, and retrieved the glaive to knock the next one out the window. It had been an accident, but by now she was way too desperate to bother about his fate. She leapt over the parapet, landing heavily on her too feet, launching her grapple in the same time to latch onto the nearest gunman, yanking him over towards her and swinging her glaive in the same motion, causing him to flip backwards as his face connected with the edge of the glaive. She felt a barrel press into the side of her head, but was gone as soon as it came; Anna slammed her weapon into the gunman's hand and thwacked his face with the other end, knocking him back. Elsa spun, swinging her leg in the same motion, her foot connecting with his head and sending him flying before he crashed to the floor.

Gunfire erupted; someone else with an LMG had entered the hall. The officers opened fire, but their screams were mixed with that of the students as they fell to the deadly hail. Enraged, Elsa dashed towards the gunman, launching her glaive towards him, but missed, and the gunman reflexively raised the gun. The bullet hail was directed upwards, smashing through the glass paneling on the ceiling, the shards falling upon the terrified students below, screaming as the deadly glass pierced them. Elsa roared in rage, slamming her fist against the gunman's cheek, cracking the jaw and smashing his teeth, but not before her other fist slammed into him from the opposite direction. She bestowed upon him a hail of her own, that of infuriated, anger fueled punches, until his whole face was covered in blood. Only then did Elsa grant him the favour of knocking him out.

She breathed deeply, not realizing her breathing had become that fast, and she hadn't noticed the state of her exertion in her fury. Then she turned.

To the sight of dead officers, groaning students, and a dead tired Anna with a bruise on her cheek.

The scene of death lay sprawled out before her.

* * *

The sound of EM crews only came fifteen minutes later. Kristoff knelt beside one of his fellow officers. "You're gonna be okay, man."

"Don't lie, Kristoff. I know… I'm a dead… dead… man…"

He watched as his colleague passed away right in front of his eyes. His own eyes closed, not in death, but in guilt.

"Kristoff."

Another officer came up behind him just as the EM crews deployed, racing into the campus to treat the injured. "HQ wants a word with us. All of us left."

His eyes narrowed. He had contemplated this part: the aftermath of his actions. But he didn't regret them. He had turned what could have been a long, prolonged and protracted hostage situation into a conflict with minimal lives lost. His orders were orders indeed, but, his conscience was another thing entirely.

And he sure as hell was glad he followed the latter.

"Where's our target?"

"I don't know. I assume she's gone."

"Oh well, one more thing for HQ to hammer us on."

"At this rate, you can expect nothing less than a dishonorable discharge," Kristoff remarked.

"Ah well," his colleague replied. "Better than letting those people die inside, huh?"

"Yeah."

He made the right choice. They might have the worst consequences, but he certainly didn't regret it.

* * *

Petersburg was lying against the wall, his head bleeding from various wounds. But that wasn't the only part of his body that had been injured.

The police had found him in a warehouse, lying in a pool of his own blood. He was alive alright, but the worst part was that he was conscious, and still in great, intense pain.

The report later stated that when he was discovered by a crew of SWAT forces in a routine sweep of the campus, he was delirious, spouting random gibberish and incoherent words. The only thing that medical personnel were later able to make out from his speech was something about a "snowstorm's might", but failed to elicit more coherent responses from him.

* * *

"You're joking."

"No… sir. I'm not."

"They lasted a mere three and a half hours?"

"To be fair sir, there was a group of policemen that decided to interfere, including the one Petersburg was told to assassinate."

"I want them gone."

"Yes sir."

"Make sure this time, it doesn't fail."

* * *

"So you're an artist, a fencer AND a doctor?"

"I was drawing and fencing since young. The medical classes came later."

"I'm starting to believe you're some kind of fictional character simply made up for some kind of book," Elsa grinned, but that smile immediately turned into a wince as Anna's pliers dug into her back. Her suit's layering had been able to take most of the impact, so while the bullets had implanted into her back, they didn't go very deep into her flesh. The two bullets clattered upon a tray Anna had placed on the coffee table.

"You're good. I'll get a bandage."

"I can bandage myself."

"It's okay," Anna replied, "Just… lie down." Truth be told, Anna wouldn't mind Elsa bandaging herself, just that she wouldn't know how she would react if she saw Elsa topless. The platinum blonde was lying face down on the sofa, her hands lying beside her as she scrunched up her face from the pain.

That day that Elsa had saved her the first time, she had bought bandages back. Now she brought them up, and began bandaging Elsa from the back, who was now sitting up.

"Anna?" Her voice was trembling. "What is it?" she replied.

"I'm sorry."

"Like I said, it isn't your fault—"

"I could have gotten you killed. I did get people killed today."

"But you saved the rest—"

"I could have saved them too!"

"Elsa…" Anna clasped her hand over Elsa's cheek and turned her face to meet hers, seeing fresh hot tears rolling down Elsa's face. "You can't save everybody. The police can't save everybody. Don't… don't blame yourself for something you couldn't have done."

"I just put a death sentence on your head."

"Elsa." Anna's face turned serious as she tightened the bandage. "To know you as a vigilante will never be a curse. It is an honor. An honor to know someone as noble, as courageous, as selfless as you are. I will never find anyone else like you."

Her breathing considerably smoothened, but Anna could tell it wasn't over. She sighed.

And then she embraced Elsa.

It wasn't a tight hug, but it wasn't a very gentle one either. It was just a hug that said _I'm so glad that you're fine and you're not dead._

And Elsa turned around and returned that hug to Anna, burying her face into her shoulder as the sobs just started again. A serene look crossed Anna's face as she wrapped her hands around Elsa's bare, cool back. As long as they were together, everything was going to be fine.

"Elsa?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why you chose this path."

Her eyes closed and her lips trembled visibly. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Elsa, just – just forget I said that, I—"

A hand enveloped hers, and she looked up. Those intense blue eyes were open again. "I – I'll tell you tomorrow. It's getting dark, and I'm kinda tired."

"Oh. Okay." Elsa got up to leave.

"Actually…" Anna looked up. "Do you mind if I sleep with you in your bed? I – don't get me wrong, I just – I'm afraid of the nightmares."

"I – okay? I guess."

"Thanks."

"Elsa?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for trusting me. With, you know, this whole vigilante thing and whatnot."

A smile crossed her roommate's face. And then she disappeared into her room, and Anna followed.

**No, I may have changed the rating, but there won't be a lemon in the next chapter, because that would disobey the rating and I'm not sure what happens if I do that, and I don't intend to find out.**


	8. Chapter 8

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 8_

Halfway through the night Anna woke up.

The bed was empty. Barren. Void of the warm body that had occupied it when she had gone to sleep.

Straightening her nightshirt and combing her hair back with her hands, she rubbed the vestiges of sleep from her eyes as she reached over for the bedstand lamp, fumbling in the dark for the switch. A cool breeze blew through the window; only then did she finally notice that it was open. By the gentle light of the moon she determined the position of the lamp, and reached over to turn it on.

Then she found the note.

_Something cropped up. Had to leave. Will be back soon. –Elsa_

The absence of Elsa's clean, undamaged suit and her snowflake glaive confirmed that message.

She frowned. Elsa had taken two bullet wounds to her back, and the only treatment she had received was disinfectant. Anna was genuinely scared for Elsa getting injured. _Gods, please don't get yourself killed. Why the hell are you so hardcore about this?_

_And more importantly, what was so urgent?_

* * *

Kristoff had been right. The officers did receive a dishonourable discharge.

Or at least, the ones that were left received it. Of the 20 officers that had arrived at the scene and had eventually stormed the university, only 12 had made it out. The suspects detained originally numbered 30, but 7 were dead, and 6 had serious injuries, the rest escaping with minor concussions, cuts and bruises. Kudos to Blizzard.

But effectively, the remaining 12 officers had been screwed over by HQ. Berated for "endangering the hostages lives" (which was probably valid considering a few hostages ended up critically injured), defying orders and going rogue, they were discharged from duty almost immediately. Kristoff had pointed out that they had ended the conflict quickly and avoided a potentially troublesome situation, but HQ held them responsible for deaths of their 8 colleagues, and the injuries of others.

It was about 2 am when he started down the snow-lined streets of Arendelle, his hands snuck in the deep, pockets of his thick coat, this time without his police uniform and cap. He sighed, his breath crystallizing in a cloud of crystals as he exhaled. It wasn't just the sky that was bleak now, it was his future. The snow fell in pockets, the cold powder trailing down his coat as he trudged through the winter.

Movement.

Years of police training had trained Kristoff's peripheral vision very well, so when he turned a corner he clearly noticed the dark shapes ducking behind the alley that he was in. His eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched. His feet took one step backwards, crunching on the snow on the pavement, then he turned his body around and started walking in the direct opposite direction. His feet crunched the snow beneath, but there was way too much crunching for him to be the only one walking.

He considered his options. He could fight, but he would probably be outnumbered AT LEAST two to one. And when he saw two more dark shapes at the other end of the alley he was now trying to escape he realized he wasn't going to make it. He could run, but with two people in front and two people behind he would get flanked and caught very easily, and he most certainly couldn't run very fast in the trench coat.

Kristoff really didn't have any options.

So he kept walking.

But his muscles had already begun to tense.

"Where do you think you're going?" the men emerged from the alley, shoving Kristoff back into the middle of it. Something was removed from one of the men's pockets; the man hit the button, the switchblade popping out with a small "shing" sound. _Shit. I don't even have my fricking baton with me_.

"What do you want?" Kristoff kept a straight face and stared the men down, fully aware of the other two men creeping up behind him.

"Oh, it's actually pretty simple. You, my friend…"

Kristoff heard a pair of knives unsheathe themselves behind him.

"…you just have to die."

"I expected no less."

For a moment there was no sound, with only the wind whipping through the deserted alley. Kristoff accepted his fate; there was no getting out of this situation.

But at least he had a general idea of what was going on. And then he closed his eyes.

Something swooped past his face very, very fast, whipping his hair back and he flinched reflexively. There was a loud thud as something hit the ground behind him. He opened his eyes just in time to dodge the body flying straight at him.

_What the fuck?_

The white figure confronted the remaining two adversaries. And while her glaive lay on the floor a few meters away from them, she was still a formidable fighting force, even with her bare hands. The mask was still there; cold and unfeeling, relentless in her campaign. He almost felt that maybe, just maybe, this vigilante was some cleverly constructed android, designed to kill.

But no. No such robot would have the conscience not to kill people to deal with a threat.

The first man made the mistake of throwing a punch at the woman, to which she caught his fist, deflected his momentum into the wall behind, twisting his arm as he went. The next thug moved up, lashing out with the switchblade, but the women lashed out with her leg, disarming him and swinging the first thug towards him in the same movement. She pushed off the wall, planting her leg upon the glaive to flip it up into her hand, then tossing the glaive towards the wall, causing it to ricochet and knock out the two thugs struggling in the corner.

She exhaled.

"Wow," Kristoff said. "I mean, I just, wow."

"You aren't safe here."

"Wha – what do you mean?"

"People are here to kill you."

"Yeah no shit these guys just tried to kill me—"

"There are more on the way."

His eyes widened. "Wait, so they really want to—"

"Looks that way, yes. Where do you live? Does anyone know where you live?"

"I just moved house. Haven't told anyone about it yet—"

"Good. Keep it that way. I need you off the streets. I'm going to shadow you back to your place, but I need to you to get there ASAP. There are probably about three teams being scuttled to hunt your ass right now."

"How did you find—"

"Enough talk. I'll explain another time, but if you value your life, get out of here."

* * *

The sun.

The warm, warm sun.

It wasn't just the sun, Anna realized. Her bed wasn't empty anymore.

She watched Elsa's serene features as her head rested on a soft pillow, her face motionless, yet so divine at the same time. She resisted the urge to place her hand on her cheek and kiss those oh so tantalizing lips, and forced herself off the bed. She couldn't do that.

But she supposed there were other things that could make her happy.

* * *

Elsa awoke.

_What is that amazing smell?_

Whatever it was it was good, and her stomach was growling. Her mind flashed back to the events of the past few hours: revealing her identity, taking down 30 gunmen, getting shot twice, and preventing someone crucial from being silenced.

She needed a break.

And as much as she knew it wouldn't be right to just leave people vulnerable, she was way too tired to go anywhere today. The wounds on her back were already hurting again despite Anna having put on the bandages and disinfecting the bullet holes.

With strain she pushed herself off the soft, warm bed and walked outside—

—straight into Anna, who was carrying a plate of hot spaghetti. The dish, along with its signature condiment of tomato sauce, spilled completely over Elsa. The heat reached her skin, forcing her to recoil in pain as her nerves reacted negatively to the sensation. She let out a small cry, more of surprise than too much pain; she'd gone through a lot of that already.

"Oh my goodness!" Anna cried as she moved to help Elsa, her roommate now curling up to stop the pain. "I'm so sorry, are you hurt?" _Goddamit, Anna, you can't even do anything right for her!_

"It's… it's fine," Elsa replied, but Anna could tell her voice wasn't normal. Something was mixed in with her voice. Was it crying?

No, it was laughter.

Good natured laughter.

* * *

Even after they had cleaned up Elsa couldn't stop laughing. "Hey!" Anna frowned, giving Elsa a small punch to her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Elsa said, out of breath, "I have a very weird sense of humour."

"At least you're not sulking," Anna sighed, sitting down next to Elsa at the kitchen table. She had prepared more spaghetti, this time making sure that she didn't bump into Elsa. Now they were finished, and were just lazing around after breakfast. "I'll wash up," Elsa said.

"No, you rest here. You need it."

"I'm fine, Anna, I can take care of it—"

"Just rest."

About 5 minutes of washing later Anna came back. Elsa was already half asleep again, this time on the sofa. She nudged her gently. "Hey. Wake up. You'll screw up your sleep cycle if you go back to sleep now."

"I was gonna tell you something yesterday."

"What?"

"You asked me why—"

"You know what?" Anna interrupted, only realizing how rude she sounded after she did it, making a tinge of guilt strike her heart. "It – it really doesn't matter, I suppose. I mean, don't get me wrong, I just thought that maybe if you didn't want to bring it up it would be fine, but I went to think about it, and I guess I realized that I didn't need to know. I guess I could just, carry on living with you – oh dear, this is going terribly, isn't it? Now I'm rambling…"

Anna watched a bemused smile cross Elsa's face. "I'm trying, okay?"

"I know. I suppose you are right." The smile got smaller. "But if you ever want to know…"

Anna gave Elsa's hand a small squeeze, and for a moment they just lay there on the sofa, not saying anything. And once again, Elsa fell asleep, her head falling gently on Anna's shoulder. She was a little surprised at the touch, but couldn't bear to wake Elsa up just to leave.

So she sat there.

And fell asleep too.

* * *

She dreamt she felt lips on hers.

Warm, soft lips. Amidst the warm, glowing sun in a soft green field with a cool, gentle breeze blowing small leaves past as they lay in the middle of it, when the backdrop didn't matter anymore, when nothing else mattered anymore and just for that second the only thing that was left was them. Not two people, but a collective entity. Them.

She was dizzy, dreamy, almost. Her hand reached up to brush the platinum blonde hair aside, revealing the intense, piercing blue eyes within, no longer imbued with the cold efficiency of combat but filled with the warmth of love, kindness, and release, and closed as their lips touched. Her dress (an actual dress, instead of the other stuff she wore) blew out in the wind, the fabric rippling as the air drifted past them. Her arms wrapped around her neck simply to pull her further into their shared intimacy, pressing her warm tongue towards her own parted lips, asking, almost pleading for entry.

"I love you," she heard the figure say.

_Flash._

Something white blinded her momentarily, and then she wasn't there anymore. She had woken up.

It was mid-afternoon. She was lucky she didn't have any classes that day, else she would have probably missed them. Sleepily she attempted to readjust her position on the sofa.

_Wait. Wasn't Elsa sleeping—_

"Hello?"

A voice cut through her thoughts, almost making her jump as she turned towards the sound. Elsa was sitting at the table, her back facing her, and was on the phone with someone while some three-screen crazy-ass computer sat in front of her, running some complex program that Anna would probably never understand, nor would she bother trying to. The iPhone lay on the table on speaker, and while it was soft, Anna could still make out what was being said.

"I see you're not dead yet."

"Meh, it'll take more than that to kill me." _That's Kristoff's voice. Why is he contacting Elsa?_

"Didn't look that way in the alley." _Does she mean that—!_

"I suppose so. I owe you one. How are you?"

"What, besides the two bullets, a concussion and the brusies? Yeah, besides looking like a total noob wreck with a terrible fashion sense, I'm cool." _You'll always look wonderful to me. _Anna exhaled softly as she lay her head back on the pillow to just listen to their conversation, and hopefully fall asleep again.

"How's Anna?"

"She's asleep. In the meantime I need to go match up a few things I've gathered from people. Including the Petersburg guy."

"That was ugly."

Silence.

Anna remembered the way Elsa had done it. She hadn't meant to see it, but she saw the way Elsa had beaten the crap out of the guy to have gotten the information she needed. By the time the guy was out cold Elsa's hands were covered in blood, her back's wounds getting more and more severe, and she was shaking, and Anna didn't think it was due solely to the exertion. Elsa was visibly disturbed by what she herself could do.

And as much as Anna hated to admit, so was she.

"Is she okay? No, no nightmares or anything?"

"If anything I'm more likely to have nightmares than she ever will. I'm not even sure I can handle it."

"Sure you can."

"You're the only two people I've decided to reveal my identity to. Call it selfish, but I need to get a burden off my chest. But now, that makes you a target."

"I can take care of myself—"

"I'm more worried for Anna." _Elsa, are we really going back to this again?_

"I know you are."

"What do you mean?"

"The way you look at her. The way you care for her. Since that day I notice you just looking out for her, making sure she won't be hurt even if you ask her to do something. Preemptively taking out anyone who would have posed a threat to her in that campus."

Anna noticed the lack of a response.

"I think you like her," Kristoff concluded.

_Wait. What? WHAT? Elsa – she likes me?_

"You're quite the observant type," Elsa noted, abstractly confirming Kristoff's theory.

"Hey, years in the force do equip me with some skills."

"I could use some help. Ever thought of putting those skills to use?"

"You know what? I just might consider that."

"Call me again when you've thought it through."

Elsa killed the line, and turned her attention back to the screen. Anna shut her eyes preemptively, hoping that Elsa didn't see that she had been awake, listening to what had transpired between them.

_She likes me?_

A warm fuzzy feeling washed over Anna as she lay back on the pillow. And then she closed her eyes, and fell asleep again.

**The chapter seemed a bit weird for me, so I would appreciate the reviews if anyone else felt I've got room to improve on.**


	9. Chapter 9

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 9_

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's too dangerous. Way too dangerous."

"You saw me handle those people!"

"It's a risk I am unwilling to take again."

Anna sulked, pouting as she flopped back on the sofa. It was nighttime, but there was no way Anna was sleeping after having taken 2 long, extended naps. She had woken up fresh, way to fresh for her to go back to sleep at 8pm at night. She was tempted, so tempted to bring up the fact that she had heard her attempt to recruit Kristoff, but that would mean revealing that she had heard the entire conversation, including the rather… difficult part.

"Come on, Elsa. I can take care of myself."

The vigilante's eyebrows were furrowed, her hand clenching upon the glass of water she held in her hand. "Anna. I cannot risk you getting injured. I'd have to answer to your parents, your friends—"

"That's not fair, Elsa! You have friends and parents too!"

In one instant Elsa's hand dropped the glass she was holding, and she slammed her clenched fist upon the table, rocking the glass where it stood. Her head snapped round, her once calm and gentle blue eyes taking on a violent, intense, piercing look, her entire face the manifestation of rage and she stared straight into Anna's own eyes. Anna could almost feel the electricity of her intense glare crackle in the air, and she (unintentionally) let out an audible gasp of fear.

Elsa's face softened. Her fists unclenched. Her eyes took on the look of sadness and despair just before they closed. Her body relaxed.

_What have I done?_ Her heart beat ever faster as the trepidation of watching Elsa sit there increased with every passing second.

"I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's not your fault."

She watched a single tear roll down Elsa's cheeks, her lips trembling once again. She didn't understand; a few days ago Elsa was so happy, cheery. Now, she was… sad? Insecure? Depressed?

"Do you mind if I ask what happened? I – I know I've asked this before, and I know I've said it doesn't matter, but can you just tell me what I need to know so this – I don't hurt you again?"

For a moment there was no sound. Nothing. Not even the wind outside, but if there was any wind at all their windows were closed. It was just them, in the warm glow of the lamps that illuminated their plain white room.

"My parents… are dead."

* * *

_It was another one of those cold, cold nights._

_I don't remember much of my childhood; I was far too young to remember much of anything until that point. That day was, different. I do suppose I attribute it to the trauma of the incident, but seriously, I can't get it out of my head._

_But we were just driving. My parents and I, just talking, making me feel happy as usual, and then along the cold dark road something hit us from the right. My memories are blurred, but I can pretty much confirm it was a car; nothing short of a vehicle would have done the job. But sitting in the front seat on my mother's lap, our vehicle went flipping into the forest nearby._

_But the fire._

_The deadly, horrendous fire._

_My father was already dead by the time my mother had pushed me out of the car, with a sharp metal piece sticking out of her abdomen, sitting in a pool of her own blood. She cut her hands trying to free the seatbelt, but eventually she pushed me out of a window she smashed with her own hands, weakly begging me to leave. I had gotten a few feet away, not knowing what the bloody fuck was going on, when the car exploded._

_I don't remember how I got through the forest. I do remember waking up in a pile of snow with the smell of my parents' charred bodies and gasoline entering my nostrils. _

_By the time I had stumbled back to Arendelle I had no idea what to do. I was far too young to remember where my house was, and very little of what the house even looked like. I was able to talk, but I couldn't muster the courage to ask anyone to help. So I ended up on the streets, young, naïve, unable to fend for myself._

_That was the worst part._

_For about seven years I was beaten, extorted, almost raped sometimes, as I carried on along the streets. For seven years I trained to fight, I trained to stand up for myself, I trained to run. My stamina and courage increased, and I was spurred to do things I never thought I could ever do; I helped people. I made sure the bullies had lots and lots of trouble even walking around the streets. Eventually I earned a name for myself: Blizzard, for I only struck from the heart of the storms that would ravage the people still stuck on the streets with no place to go._

_Then they found me._

_Probably because I had wandered off into the city. That's probably why they took so long. I was lucky no one had attempted to swallow up my family's assets, so I got everything back. I found the location of my ancestral home once again, with all the staff still there, welcoming me back. I still don't know how they did it, but I was glad, really glad to be back._

_I suppose the part about me readjusting to expectations of how to behave as a "rich" girl is insignificant. As much as I could I attempted to re-establish the years of education that I had lost on the streets. For the next seven years again my whole life revolved around learning, making sure that I could appear at least normal to people. But in the process, by the end of seven years, I had over-committed; my skills were beyond any other girl/boy of my age, while I myself was fading into the background. I didn't know who I was. What I wanted to be. I had no friends beyond the staff that had taken care of me._

_When I finally came of age I inherited my father's company, a little perplexed that it was dealing with weapons. It was hard; Kai and Gerda had to become my financial advisors to help me run it, but I wasn't interested. By then the idea had gotten into my head that I could help people in a way nobody else could; going back to the streets. I adopted my street name once more, donning the white mask, striking during the storms to make sure no one else could ever think that they owned those streets._

_I used my father's company to make equipment. Call it selfish; I just didn't know what else to do. So using those assets I began a campaign against crime within the city, having noticed the crime rate increasing exponentially over the years._

_That was how it began._

* * *

"I'm assuming you have more questions."

Deadpanned. They sat on the sofa, the night getting ever deeper as the clocked ticked past. Anna felt awkward in a sense, not knowing how to proceed with the many points of confusion ravaging her brain.

"Why are you here?"

She fell silent again. "The house was attacked."

"What?" Anna felt a sense of dread overcome her. "Do… other people know?"

"Someone tracked me there. As for whether they know who they are tracking, well, that's a question I'm finding the answer to. I'm here as a cover; they probably won't expect me to be some sort of student, or at least they won't think I'm so young, so my cover at the university helps me."

"Wait so, you're actually registered in the university?"

"Yeah. My identity is pretty conclusive, mainly because I never really lied. I honestly am enrolled the courses the school database says I am; I just made my cover all the more stronger so that if anyone tried to suspect me, my current identity would give them even less reason to.

"Why not kill people?"

Elsa blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You know, if you think you should make sure crime is stopped, why not kill them? Why not ensure they will never ever have a chance to do it again?"

The eyes. The pupils trembled. A film of tears began to envelop them again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Because I killed someone before."

If she thought the silence was bad just now, this time it was deafening. Overwhelming.

* * *

_I don't remember who he was._

_I just remember hearing rumours. Rumours that there was a corrupt official going around. Of course, no one could confirm those rumours; those people were probably facing defamation and being silenced. It was logical to assume that._

_So I did my own poking around._

_Finding his name wasn't easy. I had cross-check and triangulate all my information for months before I finally got a concrete lead on him. I had a whole data archive dedicated specifically to tracking him down. His family. His friends. Everything I could possibly have gathered on him._

_Then came the day I met him on a lonely, desolate road on the outskirts of the city, in a convoy of one armoured transport and two Fords. Evidently I had been making a name for myself as well, cause he ordered his men to open fire on me immediately._

_That was… difficult to handle at first. I got shot about, what, three times just trying to get close to them. _At this point Elsa pulled up her shirt halfway, revealing the scars of the impact wounds still on her belly, pink and half-recovered, but permanent. _Up close, they were much easier._

_That changed when the guy himself decided to get out, and beat the crap out of me. It was evident now how he could have done what he did; he had so much experience, and he was strong, much stronger than I was. I didn't stand a chance until the guy knocked me onto the cold hard ground, bleeding out, and knelt over me to put a gun to my forehead. I disarmed him, threw snow in his eyes, and in a moment of half-panic and half-rage, I pulled the trigger on everyone else still standing._

_Then it got to me._

_The fear._

_The guilt._

_The regret._

_The haunting sound of the gunshot ringing in my ears._

_Even the sounds of the engines running scared me. _

Anna watched as Elsa walked over to the drawer on the small table next to the sofa, and pulled it out. The pistol lay within, its dark exterior no longer gleaming, but dulled from use. The barrel still had a dark, faint, but nonetheless visible red bloodstain on it.

_The next months were the worst. I sound like the stereotypical blonde over here, but I literally could not get myself together. I was crying every day, unable to push myself out of bed, my hands shaking far too much for me to do anything constructive. I could barely eat, but the worst of all was that I couldn't sleep. And when I did go to sleep the voices, those terrible voices would plague my dreams, tearing my brain apart as the chanting and the gunshot kept repeating over and over and over and over—_

* * *

Her hands were shaking again.

Anna reached out to grasp Elsa's hands in hers, giving them a warm, soothing grasp. "It's okay, Elsa."

"How? How – how was any of that ok?"

"You did what you had to do."

"But I—"

On impulse, Anna pulled Elsa into her arms, embracing her tightly. "Please. None of this was your fault. Just, shall we say, let it go."

She felt hands grasp her shirt on her back as wet tears began to dampen her shoulder. The hands began to stabilize, just like her voice, and probably her mind.

_But perhaps we're all just a little insane inside._

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For listening."

Anna laughed softly. "Least I could do."

"No, it really is a huge load off my chest. To have… someone. That's willing to listen to who I am as a person. Who I was as a person. And be willing to stick with me, regardless of who I will be as a person." Her eyes.

_Finally._

_The first time I can see her truly happy._

Had it not been night she might have just gone out to dance in the sunlight. She didn't care whether it was cold. She didn't care if she looked like some retard.

She'd made someone happy, for once.

* * *

"What happened to the cop?"

"Someone got in the way."

"Her again?"

"…yeah."

"Bloody hell."

"How does she know so much?"

"That's what I need to know to."

"So… what do we do now?"

"Now we focus all our efforts on tracking her down. In the meantime, make sure we aren't discovered."

* * *

Midnight.

There was a small beep emanating from the middle of the apartment.

Elsa pushed herself off the bed, opened the door and walked over to the table.

She smiled.

She had the coordinates, and they matched.

She picked up Petersburg's phone and looked at it fondly. "Amazing what kind of things you can find on people's speed dial." Then abruptly, she whipped around and smashed the phone against the wall. The cracked screen and warped pieces of metal fell upon the carpeted floor and she recoiled her hand, small cuts already appearing on her palm.

"Computer. Sync coordinates, and plot the nearest course towards the destination." More beeping. She felt her back; the wounds were better, and while they weren't fully healed, she would do fine. Time was of the essence.

Her glaive lay in the side of the room, lying there almost alluringly, drawing her hand towards its handle. Her eyes narrowed.

"Time to find out what the bloody hell is going on."

* * *

"Boss?"

"What do you want?"

"There's someone slamming on our main door. Whatever they want, it doesn't sound pretty at all."

"Send out a few men with their rifles and see what they want."

"We already did, sir."

"And?"

"Well… they haven't responded."

"…"

"What should we do?"

"Get me out of here on the transport. Then make sure whoever is out there dies where they stand."


	10. Chapter 10

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 10_

She frowned. Where was the next response team?

Something wasn't right. She brought up her gauntlets, her holographic display emerging as the intelligent software began to scan the building. It was abandoned from the outside, but the fact that she had to take out armed men to get this close, combined with the data she had acquired from the phone and the assault on the bank was enough to prove that theory wrong. That was conclusive.

The gauntlets beeped. Something was moving.

_Goddammit. I hate armoured transports._

Elsa latched onto the nearest roof with the grapple and flung herself up with the retracting grapple, perching upon the roof. Just in time too; almost immediately the response team she had wished for exited the building, armed with LMGs and automatic rifles. _Shit. I could have fucking died down there._

The screech of tires answered her ears. She vaulted over the roof's air conditioning systems as her mask's HUD lit up, marking out the position of the armoured transport. "Scan the vehicle for sitrep."

This was getting stupid. _Running away? What the hell were these people doing? First they target areas for no apparent reason, and now they split up some of their crew? This can't be a petty crime organization; how the hell do they get armoured transports like that?_

_All the more with a machine gun mounted on its roof—_

Elsa leapt backwards instinctively as the gun fired, its rounds ripping through the rooftop parapet but luckily not making contact with her skin. _Fuck! Now I can't get close without being fired upon._ She pushed herself back up to her feet, breaking into a run as she pursued the transport. The gun kept firing, forcing her away from the parapet. She swore as she leapt from one rooftop to another, her HUD marking out the transport's outline in bright orange as she maintained her pursuit.

Now the gun kept firing continuously. They certainly weren't letting her get anywhere near their car. This wouldn't do; wherever they were going was bound to have reinforcements, so she needed some other way of finding out where the hell they were going. Her gauntlet's launcher hissed as it popped open, and she loaded the first tracker inside.

The firing stopped. Reload time.

Elsa leapt across the street to the other rooftops, outstretching her hand to fire the tracker, then deliberately faking a lack of reaction to allow herself to brace, then slam into the wall of the building opposite. As she tumbled towards the street she fired her grapple towards the roof, barely catching it and allowing her to swing towards the floor. She landed, planting one hand on the floor to absorb the impact, and watched as the transport drove off.

The little icon on the city map render in her HUD continued to move.

There was a limit to what she could do, she realized as she walked off into the deserted alley back towards their apartment, stunned onlookers staring as she went but not daring to follow her. She would need help. She would definitely need help.

* * *

For probably the first time in forever Anna was up when Elsa got back. "You're up early," Elsa remarked as she came in through the window.

"And I made breakfast."

She watched as the blonde sniffed the air. "What the bloody fuck is that?"

"What?"

"Something smells."

"What? Is it my food? Is it that bad?" Anna honestly couldn't smell anything, but she was pretty darn scared she screwed up the breakfast.

"No, there's… something else… shut off the gas. That might be it."

Anna turned off the stove, a strange feeling of dread creeping up into her heart. "Was that it?" Her roommate shook her head. "What's going on?"

Her roommate's eyes narrowed, then widened. "Fuck. Anna, put on my suit. Now."

"What? The one you just repaired?"

"No, the one I'm wearing." Elsa had already begun to strip down as she moved over to her computer. "Put it on. Quick." Her roommate clasped the table, seemingly with great strain.

Then Anna smelt it.

Something was coming. Something very, very wrong. Quickly she strapped on the suit. "Okay, what do I do now?"

"Computer, initiate suit one's gas quarantine protocols."

"_Acknowledged."_ Anna's suit quickly tightened around her, shocking her a little, but that was nothing compared to when a piece of transparent nano-fabric wrapped around her face. "Elsa?"

"Computer, drop suit 3 at these coordinates. Increase drone speed to level 5." "_Acknowledged."_

"Elsa! What the hell is going on?"

"Sleeping gas."

Her own eyes widened as the room began to get foggy. Hastily Elsa covered her mouth with a piece of cloth. "Anna, I'm calling a drop for another suit. Your suit will protect you from the gas, but the suit is going to take a while. If I pass out before the drop I need you to put the suit on me, and initiate the revival protocol. The gauntlets on the suit will come with an antidote for the gas." Elsa clenched her eyes shut as she placed her hand against the wall. "God fucking dammit."

"Elsa?"

"Just, keep it… together…" Elsa collapsed upon the sofa, her knees giving way. Anna rushed over towards her to catch her. "2… minutes…"

And then her roommate passed out.

All was silent. There was no sound, save her own breathing. The whole city emitted not so much as a whisper.

Then the explosions began.

* * *

The mist.

The goddamn mist.

Her head hurt. Badly. Elsa planted her hands upon the soft cotton ground, suddenly realizing how comfortable and hurt she felt at the same time.

But that didn't make any sense.

_The glaive. _She looked around, but there was nothing around her. Just her, in her suit, in the white mist that cut her visibility to about 3 meters.

"Hello?"

No response.

_What in the actual fuck?_

_Think Elsa, think. Why are you here? You came here for a reason, didn't you? Think. Come on, think!_

"Elsa?"

Her head snapped up. "Who's there?"

Her head cleared. She looked around; still nothing, no one, no indication as to where the bloody hell she was and what the bloody hell was going on.

"Elsa?"

A figure appeared through the mist. She planted her feet back and tensed, an instinctive fighting stance she took to meeting unknown, and potentially hostile, strangers. "Who's there?"

"Don't you remember me?"

The mist cleared to reveal a purely white background. White floor. White horizon. White sky. No walls. A cold wind blew.

It was her mother.

"Mom?"

"Elsa."

A single tear rolled down the side of her face as her mouth simply dropped open. "But… how…?"

"Elsa. Whatever you do, conceal it. Don't feel it."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Conceal. Don't feel." The figure had already began to disappear into the whiteness.

"Mom?! Wait!"

"Conceal… don't feel…"

The wind picked up. Severely. And just before it turned into a full blown snowstorm her hands began to pulsate with blue light, and then exploded with icy energy.

Then she flew. And flew. Into the whiteness, and then the darkness beyond…

_Upon this day I hereby swear—_

* * *

Light.

"Elsa? Can you hear me?"

Sound.

"Elsa?"

Contact. On her skin. Nano-fabric.

She blinked, just before her combat senses kicked in. She leapt to her feet, tearing past her savior's grasp as she searched frantically for her glaive. _What the fuck is with this mist-_

_Oh._

"Anna?" she turned around desperately, seeing her roommate still fully covered by her suit. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. What the hell is going on—"

**BOOM!** An explosion rocked their building; while it didn't originate from the same building it was bloody strong. "People are gonna die," Anna said, matter-of-factly.

"You don't say."

They shared a small laugh amidst the grim situation before them.

"What the hell do we do now?"

"The suit will guide you in how to use it. Get as many people out as you can. I'm going after them."

"Who?"

"The people who did this." Elsa planted her foot upon her glaive to flip it up towards her hand, catching its handle within her palm. "And I have a pretty good feeling about who did it."

* * *

"Hello, Petersburg."

_What the—_

The man awoke, still chained to the hospital bed.

"Boss?"

"We're gonna get you outta here." His handcuffs fell to the floor after they shoved a key into the keyhole and unlocked it.

"What's going on? Why the hell is everyone wearing gas masks?"

"We isolated your room from the sleeping gas—"

"What?"

"We gassed the city. Now we've got enough time to go and find the fucking girl before they wake up."

"This supposed to be an accident?"

"Supposed."

His eyes narrowed, and then a grin appeared upon his face. "You ready to get back to work, Petersburg?"

"Hell yeah."

* * *

_Conceal… don't feel…_

The mist of the sleeping agent hung eerily in the air as Elsa leaped across the rooftops, watching the fires rage across the town. With multiple fires left unattended almost simultaneously, there was no way the fire was going to be controlled by natural means anytime soon.

_Conceal… don't feel…_ Her mother's last words rang in her ear. The fires continued to rage on.

_I'm sorry, mum. I'll deal with it._

She had no choice. It was her against a very trained, organized criminal organization. Screw her promise. Screw all of this. Saving those lives were a priority. Her hands fell to her sides, then they tensed and raised slowly, pulsating ever brighter with blue light. Her eyes closed. The energy released, dissipating in waves as Elsa drew on her true power. Not her power to fight. Not her power to endure.

Her power of ice.

Elsa trembled with power as she levitated off the rooftop in a vortex of ice, snow and wind.

First, the wind. The wind rushed past her in a flurry, howling and raging in her ear as it picked up, its speed now reaching dangerously high levels. The mist blew out quick, soon the city could be seen, but she knew that wouldn't solve the problem; she'd still have to find the source of the

Next, the snow. If the mist reduced her visibility badly, then the snow would be worse. But not to her. She could see everything, even without her HUD, even without her equipment. It didn't matter to her; she was the snowstorm. She was the ice. Her glaive slowly encased itself in cold, hard ice, forming itself around the edges of the snowflake. Her suit's nano-fabric's grooves filled with ice, the hexagonal pattern strengthening the ice pattern above.

7 years of designing gear, just to complement her ice powers.

* * *

Anna carried the body out of the building. _Last one._ Amidst the pile of people she had unceremoniously stacked at the side of the road, she fired her grapple to ascend the next building. _ Where's the next fire—?_

_What?_

The snowstorm.

It was back.

The fires were out.

_Phew, I'm lucky today—_

"Anna?"

"Elsa? Are you alright? How are you talking—"

"I'd explain the complexities of the things I designed, but I'm really going to need your help on this."

"Sure, what's the matter—"

Anna was cut off again, not by Elsa, but this time by gunshots. "Fuck!" she said as she ducked behind a wall. Automatic fire sprayed above her, ripping through the bricks and windows directly above her. "Elsa? Could use some help over here!"

"Stand your ground, I'm on my way. The suit should have two escrima sticks attached to them; you'll have to make do."

"Escrima…?" Anna felt the pair of weapons attached to her back, reaching behind to pull them out from their handles. "Storm her!" she heard someone yell as footsteps rapidly approached the doorway to her right. Frantically she leapt towards the door, determined to get the drop of the gunmen before they did so on her, swinging the escrima down low, catching the first gunmen in the leg and sweeping him off his feet, then bringing her hands up in the same movement to slam against his abdomen as he flipped, slamming him against the ground. She spun, catching the next gunmen's gun with her leg and sending it flying, before she completed her spin and slammed both the sticks upon his head, knocking him out.

"Hey," Anna said to herself as she spun the escrima sticks, "this could work."

Her response was a large sniper round cracking through the wall almost an inch from her head, causing her to jump. "We've got her! Suppress her and keep it up!"

Anna dived behind another table as the gunfire continued, peeking over to locate her opponents. Three gunmen, with one LMG and two automatic rifles that she didn't recognize. It didn't matter, she wasn't going anywhere as long as they were still there—

A white blur descended, slamming into the first gunmen, swinging the glaive into a powerful throw that slammed into the next gunman's head, flying back into her hand as she completed the spin, and with a final swinging motion she let loose a blast of ice straight into the final gunman's face.

_Wait. WHAT?_

"You okay?" Elsa rushed in through the doorway, the door already in tatters from the shooting.

"What was that?"

Elsa closed her eyes and looked away before opening them again. "I… I'll explain another time…"

"No, what the hell was that?" Anna was getting kind of angry now. "You hide so many secrets from me, and every time you reveal one you don't bother telling me about the others?"

"Anna—"

"How many other things are there that I don't know? Huh? How many more things are you still hiding from me?"

"Anna, please!"

The begging tone within Elsa roused the rational part of her brain back to life. _What the hell do you think you're doing, Anna? Isn't it already hard enough on her? Why are you—_

A single gunshot rang out.

And Elsa collapsed to the ground with the impact of the round. Then Anna realized it wasn't a normal gun; that had been a sniper rifle.

_No._

_No._

"NO!" Anna raced over towards her companion, raising her off the ground. "No, no, no, no! Stay with me, stay with me!" _No, please don't go… please, please don't go… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—_

Elsa's eyes clenched shut as she writhed upon the floor—

—and then they stopped clenching.


	11. Chapter 11

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 11_

Perhaps her greatest mistake of all was getting mad. That she failed to control her rage, failed to control her emotions, failed to bother about Elsa's own emotions. That it would have been the greatest mistake of her life when she realized that the sniper bullet was meant for her. Her brain, still too confused and overwhelmed, only registered she had been shoved aside only after Elsa was lying upon the ground, her face once struggling but now relaxed.

_She took that bullet._

_For me._

_What have I done—_

The first of hot tears streamed down her cheeks. She didn't care anymore; she'd pissed off the one person she'd cared about just before she lost her forever, and now she couldn't even apologise. She didn't realize that the most logical thing to do was to get behind cover, and avoid the next sniper round that would inevitably come for her.

But no.

She didn't realize it.

Only when the prone body of Elsa flung open her eyes and she sprung herself to her feet, firing off another concentrated blast of ice that lashed out towards the roof and knocked the sniper out did she realize that something wasn't going as logically as she had expected.

"What?"

Elsa grunted when she kneeled upon the floor, clenching her teeth as she pulled the bullet from her outfit. "Ow. That stings. This is gonna be a bit of a handicap." She sucked in a breath to endure the pain. Anna looked on at her roommate, looking on at the icy honeycomb lattice that had took the brunt of the impact for Elsa, the impact cracks showing around her abdomen. But by then she was too full of remorse and regret and shock to say anything. The bullet had left a small mark upon her stomach, and Anna was sure that was going to leave another scar, given how it had penetrated the skin and slightly into the muscle below.

"You okay?" Elsa asked her.

"I—" _I hate myself… after what I just did and she's still asking ME if I'm okay?_ "I—"

"Are you hurt?"

"No, it's – it's okay. I'm fine. I just—"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. For – the things I said."

"Stay with me, Anna." Elsa gently tapped the palm of her hand onto her cheek. "We still need to get you back. You've gotten all the people out already, so I need you to stay low an—"

"But I want to help!" Something snapped within Anna, something compelling her to do something about this. To do something for Elsa. To make up for what she had done. Somewhere deep down a voice was nagging at her that she could probably get herself killed, but she didn't care. Anna had gone from angry, to depressed, to being filled with courage within the span of about three minutes. Illogical, yes, but somehow so right at the same time.

"I can't take that risk, Anna." Elsa's eyes suddenly averted Anna's gaze, her face taking on a look of despair. "What do I do if something happens to you, Anna? What am I supposed to tell your parents? Your friends?"

"It's my choice, Elsa." Anna moved closer towards her. "In all honesty, and with no offense, it's my choice.

"Yes, but—"

"Elsa, you can't do this alone. You don't have to do this alone."

"Yes, I do."

"Why?"

"Anna, they will hurt you. Just so they can hurt me."

"They'll hurt us all if we don't do something. You can't keep this up; even you have to admit that. You've seen what we can do against these people!"

"I'm trying to protect you—"

"I know that. But I don't want you getting hurt either." On impulse she moved forward, taking Elsa's hands. "You don't have to be afraid. We can face this thing together."

"Anna, I can't live with the guilt if I know that I let something happen to you."

Silence.

"Then let's make sure that neither of us get hurt."

Another silence.

"Why does this sound so weird when we talk about it, Elsa?"

Her companion sighed as she sat down on the splinter scattered ground beside her, and buried her face into her hands, dropping the glaive beside her. "Sometimes I don't even know why I keep doing this. To myself. That maybe I keep doing this because I make myself believe that I can change things."

"But you can!"

"No, Anna, I can't. And I don't want to drag anyone else back into this. Truth be told, sometimes I think the only reason why I'm still doing this is because I have nothing left. My whole life was dedicated in the pursuit of the pinnacle of combat prowess and ruthless efficiency."

"No, Elsa. It wasn't."

"Then what?"

"You dedicated it to help people fight the battles that they never could."

Anna shifted over towards her. "And when this is all over your name will be the one that history wrote in their books, that you kept fighting for them, no matter what." Elsa arched her eyebrow at her comment. "When all this over, I'll write those books for you."

"I think your resume just got bigger," Elsa said as she laughed softly. Then she turned serious. "The moment you get a single scratch, I'm getting you out here."

"Yes, ma'am."

But slowly Anna began to realize something else. She wasn't sure when – it could have been when they were walking along the street towards the main facility housing the city's power grid, or when she had decided to check Elsa's gunshot wound despite her protests. But gradually she came to conclude that she was doing this less for the people, less for doing something right.

She was doing it for Elsa.

* * *

_I'm a failure._

_Elsa, what the HELL do you think you're doing?_

_I can't take this—_

_It doesn't matter what you can take! What matters is that she could end up dead?_

_But I just—_

Elsa fingers tightened their grip over the glaive as the pair of them walked along the snow covered streets, the snowstorm raging on. She wanted it to stop just so Anna could stop staggering against the harsh winds, but it was a necessary stealth element. And somehow, she couldn't get Anna out of her head.

_Maybe it's 'cause you've condemned her twice over. Once with your identity. Twice with your incitement._

She remembered scrolling through the comic books in her adolescence, drawing on as many ideas as she could. It looked stupid, but she had no other resource to depend upon, save the imagination of humanity. Sure the things she found were most certainly profound; "With great power comes great responsibility" and all, but perhaps the most pertinent thing she could ever find in those things was the mask.

The idea of the mask.

_To protect the people she loved._

And by then she realized she didn't have anyone she loved left.

But she wore the mask anyway. In case she would find someone she cared for. And as the years went by she found herself emotionless, unfeeling, fighting for something that she had lost sight of.

But Anna, oh sweet sweet Anna, crystallized her goal for her once more. And she had selfishly decided to curse her, burden her, with this knowledge.

_Do I even deserve to do this anymore?_

She knew she needed allies. Sometime. Somehow. But she didn't want it to be Anna. Of all the people. Of all the people that would be hurt, could be hurt, she didn't want it to be her. She was too innocent. Too nice. Too perfect. She didn't deserve any of this—

But she had wanted to help. So bad.

And so as they continued down the road and Elsa reached into her inner power, conjuring up her next tactical advantage she decided that Anna was right. She was going to make sure that none of them got hurt.

_Or at least, she doesn't._

* * *

"Ah, fuck! The fucking snowstorm is back!" someone said as a nasty gust slammed straight into them.

Petersburg lifted one arm, as if to ward off the strong winds blowing against him and his crew. His face was still partially injured after his encounter with that bitch, so he had leapt at the chance to get rid of her. And while their plan of knocking out the entire city had been unprecedented, they did have a limited time before it would wear off.

Right now, their time had just been cut by strong winds blowing away their sleeping agent. "Never mind," he told his crew. The machine will keep pumping it. Let's just find the bitch and get this over with. This storm really kinda sucks."

His arm hurt, but he raised the rifle anyway, peering through the thick haze of the fast blowing snow, trying to make out the road in front of him. His visibility had dropped to about 3 meters, which bugged him a lot; he never felt safe without a tactical view of the situation. The ACOG sight frosted over from the heavy snowstorm, testing his already paper-thin patience as he swore in frustration, removing the sight from the rifle.

"_Petersburg! Come in!_"

"Yes boss?"

"_Get back into shelter, there's a severe storm coming in!_"

"With all due respect boss, you're kinda late with those news." He got a laugh from the other end of the line. "Moving to shelter now."

Something moved.

Even through the thick snow, it was clear something had dashed past them. Even his fellow gunmen stopped in their tracks, their eyes scanning. "Hey boss, I'mma call you back. Something's up." Petersburg moved to put the radio back on his belt.

He never got to.

Something whipped past, and snatched the radio straight out of his hand. "The hell—?" Then something struck the first gunman straight in face. "Bloody hell!" he heard someone yell. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" Rifles clattered as they opened up, expending their ammunition at a dangerously fast rate as they fired into the whiteness around them. Ice lashed out at them, taking down some of his crew, but Petersburg and the others rushed over to get them up. "Get to cover!" he yelled. "Find whatever's attacking us, and take them down!"

Then something tackled him to the ground. Petersburg yelled in surprise as he felt to the cold hard ground, struggling to push off his assailant.

And for the first time in his life he felt true fear.

The thing that tackled him to the ground wasn't human, no matter how much it looked. It had limbs, yes, a face, yes, and looked completely humanoid.

But it was pure ice.

Clear, transparent ice. Its blank face seemed to stare straight into his soul. Judging. Perceiving. The ice man raised its fist in a swing, in preparation for the downward motion that would inevitably smash Petersburg's poor fragile face in.

And it shattered.

Someone kicked the ice man off Petersburg and fired into it, cracking its icy abdomen into gleaming fragments. Hurriedly he rose to his feet and grabbed the AK12 off the floor. "What the hell was that?"

"Don't know!" his savior replied. "But we gotta get outta here, boss! These things keep coming!" Right on cue another ice man appeared out from the swirling storm and dealt a heavy blow to his head. Petersburg dodged its next blow, slamming the butt of his rifle into its chest, shattering the figure.

The word "run" was the only thing on his mind as he gathered his men and made a break for the buildings nearby.

* * *

"Was this really necessary?"

"I'm sorry, I did what I thought was the best choice of action! It's simple, we just say there was an industrial accident and that some people took advantage of the mass "knock-out" to go and pillage."

"As much as I want that bitch dead, this seems rather, shall we say, excessive."

"Hey, it's mutually beneficial. I don't want her interfering. Getting rid of her means that I can continue to approve your research."

"That seems fair. I almost feel bad, giving you this much trouble; it was my research that created her, after all."

"The past is in the past, I suppose. Now we just try and take care of her."

"Agreed."

"How goes Project Nova?"

"Seemingly well. We do have the files from Project Blizzard still being put together, but the fragments we've found seem to be most helpful in our progress. My team and I are most indebted to you on this matter."

"It's the least I could do for a friend willing to do such a huge favour for me."

"But of course, my friend. But might I be so daring to ask why you wanted this to begin with?"

"I do suppose it is because of her. It's an expression of my, shall we say, defiance."

"I see."

"I guess that's the only reason why I asked for those details as well."

"Yes, now that you mention it, it does make sense."

"Your augmentations do seem to be going very well. I almost feel stronger everyday."

"Heh, at this rate, you might as well go down there and get the work done yourself."

"I've heard worse ideas."

"Though I must advise you that doing so would not just put your body at risk from the effects of the augmentations, but also risk your career."

"That is true, but soon it won't matter anymore. With the completion of Project Nova, no one will stop me. Not even her. And I promise I will see to it that you are duly rewarded for your efforts, and your part in making it a reality."

"You are too kind."

"Let's just call it loyalty, Doctor."

* * *

**My sincerest apologies for the delay, I ran into some writer's block. If you're seeing this, thanks so much for staying on to read! I really appreciate it, more than you know.**


	12. Chapter 12

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 12_

"So what are you?"

Elsa shifted visibly, uncomfortably so. "I'm sorry," Anna quickly piped up, "I didn't mean it that way. I mean, I was just curious—I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Elsa replied, "I may as well tell you. We've got to wait here anyways." They were standing next to a small warehouse on the edge of the city, alongside the small, lonely road moving towards the hydroelectric dam up upon the hills. "Truth be told, it's kind of a long story."

"Why are we waiting here?" Elsa pulled up the shutters on the warehouse and motioned Anna to move inside. She complied.

"There appear to be some kind of patrols there."

"Patrols? What, the gunmen?"

"Yeah."

"How do you know?"

As if on cue the shutters opened voluntarily, and a figure stepped through.

Elsa winced as she heard Anna's scream of fear as the ice man approached them. "Elsa, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Her roommate backed away in pure shock, drawing out the escrima sticks attached to her suit. "Wha – what in the name of—?"

"Calm down," Elsa said, nodding towards the ice man, where upon which it opened the shutters and disappeared again. "I made them."

"You made more of them?"

"I do need more than two people sometimes."

"You. Of all people. Needing help?"

_Is she scorning my insecurity or admiring my independence?_ "Yes. I do need help." Elsa sat upon the cold hard floor of the warehouse, spacious and empty for some reason. The lights weren't working, so they were fumbling in total darkness, until Elsa conjured up a swirl of ice in her palm to bring some light into the room. "You were asking me something?"

"Well… yeah… about what you're doing right now…"

_I could scare her off. That might be a good thing you bloody selfish bastard. But I can't live without her. It's not your choice to make, but it's her life you need to take care of—_

"Are you sure you want to hear this?"

Silence. "Is there… something you're not comfortable with me hearing?"

"I just… don't want to destroy the relationship between us." _Oh god, did that come out wrong?_

"It won't." Through the dim light of the swirl of magic above her palm Elsa could make out the faint but somehow bright smile upon Anna's face.

And that was all she needed to hear.

* * *

_She overheard someone yelling about how cold it was._

_Cold?_

_What's that?_

_She watched as hordes of people fled the streets as the snow blew in, the winds picking up. Her skin, her bare skin was exposed to the harsh conditions outside, her meagre clothing providing little protection against the elements. She heard people yelling "Goddammit, it's freezing out here!" as they rushed towards shelter._

_But she made no such move._

_She sat upon the corner of the street._

_Cold?_

_How… strange…_

_She placed her hands back down on the pavement, already starting to be covered in snow. Funny, she thought, I wonder how it would look like covered with a sheet of ice. Her hands gripped the edge of the pavement as she played with the thought in her mind._

_Then a "shing!" and the sound of a sharp splintering crack. Alarmed, Elsa looked down—_

—_and found the pavement covered with a clear, gleaming sheet of ice. She jumped, involuntarily, almost startled._

"_Hey!" someone yelled menacingly from beyond the whiteness of the snowstorm. Elsa's head snapped upwards, her eyes narrowing with fear and trepidation. Her lips betrayed her fierce outward look as they began to tremble._

_And she never felt cold._

_Another gang. This one was new; she'd never seen those ones before. But they were armed with baseball bats, and one of them was carrying a switchblade. The fear started out small, but began to take root as it crept up her heart, forcing her to take one tentative step backwards as the full gang materialized from the winds._

"_What do you want?"_

"_Whatever you've still got on you."_

"_I don't got nothing."_

"_You lie."_

_One of them raised the bat. Elsa was ready for it; she'd spent years fighting, getting beaten up, thinking up new tactics as she either nibbled on whatever she had managed to acquire or starved through the night. She raised her hand to deflect the blow to the side._

_But the blow never came. From her open palm emerged a potent bolt of icy power that lashed out towards the boy, catching him in the collarbone and sending him flying. "HOLY SHIT!" she heard someone yell, and she heard them moving towards her in an attempt to subdue her. "Stay away!" she yelled desperately, waving her hands in front of her as if to ward them off._

_Instead her hands gleamed, then glowed with such intensity that they had to cover their eyes before a blast of ice knocked them all off their feet._

_The hell—?_

"_Run!" one of them yelled as they all scrambled to their feet and got the hell outta there, leaving Elsa standing alone, all alone, in the midst of the snowstorm that wouldn't relent. Terrified, she looked down upon her hands, wondering to high heaven what the hell she had just done._

_And what she had just become._

* * *

The ice man perched upon the rooftop shattered into fragments the moment the bullet hit. "He's down. Find the others."

Petersburg had made the good sense to report the strange incident to his boss. More gunmen were rostered down to the area, so now they were practically doing cleanup duty on those fools. The ice men didn't have anything on them.

Through the scope of the rifle Petersburg sighted his next target, and decided he would give a rough estimation as to the wind speed, shifting his rifle towards the left and pulling the trigger. A small crack appeared upon its shoulder as the impact knocked it sideways. Its head darted around, scanning the area before it leapt to the ground from the rooftop, planting both feet upon the ground to absorb the impact, lunging into the cover of the blizzard.

He sighed as he got up from his position on the roof. The height of the building he was standing on only made the cold worse as the wind blew unobstructed. Him and a few other gunman sat upon the roof, scanning the area for more ice men.

"What the hell do you think those things are?" his crewman asked him.

"No bloody idea. Though I'd hate to think those things are sentient."

"I hear ya. If those things could actually think for themselves, then that'd be pretty damn scary. Let's hope they're not."

"Boss." Another crewman came running up to Petersburg. "The big guy just asked us to get back up to the dam."

_Crap._ Petersburg rubbed his leg. He hadn't fully recovered, and was most certainly not looking forward to a climb back up the hills. "When?"

"He told me right now."

"Goddammit. Alright boys, let's get moving." Petersburg slung the rifle back over his shoulder, as he entered the roof access stairwell.

This plan was pretty darn screwed up. Knocking out the whole city just for a huge-ass manhunt for a girl they couldn't even touch. Not only was it extreme, it also showed how desperate they were getting. He hated to admit it, but the bitch was good. Real good. His mind flashbacked to the assault on the university, and he shuddered.

Oh, he would get his revenge, alright.

The moment he got his hands on Blizzard he was going to make her suffer for what she had done. To his body. To his mind. To his ego. He reached the bottom of the building and opened the door, feeling the chilly snap hit his face again.

But until then, he would have to give her credit for being bloody fantastic at what she did. Their entire criminal organization had its effort focused mainly on her nowadays, but she was still not only untraceable, but also untouchable. Hell, they had fired machine guns at her, put barrels to her heads and wasted precious shotgun shells on her. And two months after they decided she had become a tangible and serious threat to their operations, they hadn't made ANY progress at getting her.

Even the big one was having some trouble.

_She can't be that good, can she?_

"Hey boss, looks like we've got a ride." Petersburg looked up to see a red pickup truck come to a halt with a small skid in front of them, the driver poking his head out. "Hey boys, I'm s'posed to get you guys back to the dam."

_We'll get her, eventually. She ain't no god. We'll get her alright._ The thought comforted Petersburg as he hefted himself onto the back of the pickup truck, and held on as it jerked while the truck slowly cruised towards the road that would bring them up the dam.

Ω

"Pickup truck."

"What?"

Her mind's eye, ironically partially frosted over, watched as a somewhat blurry but still recognizable red pickup truck began to drive up the road. The ice man backed away into the bushes, and Elsa released her concentration, finding herself not needing anymore particular information that the iceman could provide. "My 'assistants', if you will, saw a pickup truck driving up the road outside."

"And that means?"

"We're waiting here a while longer." Still half-dazed from telling Anna how she discovered her frosty "gift", she leaned her head against the wall of the warehouse. Her hand was still outstretched, the swirl of frost emitting the eerie glow, just enough for her to see Anna's features. Somehow Elsa felt tired, very tired, more than she had ever felt, but still functional at the same time. Maybe it was because she had gotten another burden off her chest, but she couldn't be sure.

_You still cursed Anna's life._

"You okay?" Anna snuggled up to her, resting her head on her shoulder. Elsa swallowed silently. _What is this? Fear? Trepidation? Why am I feeling this way?_ Her eyes closed as her mouth tightened into a single slit. "Yeah," Elsa replied. "I'm okay."

"How do you do these things?"

_You mean hurting people, and condemning your life to an absolute hell? How I have the heart to do this?_ "What do you mean?"

She heard Anna sigh before she went on. "I mean, how do you keep fighting for these people despite how much of dicks they've been to you?"

"Maybe I just like dicks."

They laughed, merrily, for once. Elsa hadn't heard herself laugh that happily before, or so she thought. _Have I? I don't seem to remember…_

"Honestly, I don't quite know," she admitted, reveling in the sensation of Anna's red hair brushing across her neck's exposed skin after taking off her mask and unsealing her suit. "Half of me thinks that I'm just doing it because I have nothing left to my life. I mean, I trained for this, and barely anything else. I don't really have a life outside of this."

"And the other halft?" Anna probed on.

"The other half… just feels that it's somewhat wrong to just stop."

She watched as Anna lifted herself off her shoulder to stare at Elsa curiously. Unsure how to deal with the wave of emotions that slammed into her like a freight train she closed her eyes and went on: "I just don't want to leave these people and let them get hurt."

Anna's face slowly broke into a smile as she looked on. Elsa averted her eyes, feeling awkward. _Goddammit, Elsa, you can't even deal with this kind of shit but you think you can take on the world with all its blasphemy and machine guns._

Anna planted a soft kiss upon her cheek.

For a moment, all her worries and pain just melted away. For a moment, she was free from the curse that plagued her heart. For a moment, albeit a very short moment, she was happy. "You must be one of the most wonderful people on Earth," Anna said, smiling as her own eyes stared into Elsa's.

"I wouldn't be so optimistic."

"Why not?"

_Maybe this will make her go away. I can't condemn her any longer—_

"What happened, Elsa?"

She went silent again. Could she? Could she really tell her?

"Elsa?"

"I… killed someone."

She watched the shock move over her face. _This is it. This is where she decides to leave. To hate me. __I know this is supposed to protect her. This is for the best. There is no other way._

_But why does this hurt so much?_

She could almost picture her own eyes shimmering as the first few tears streamed down her cheeks. Her fists clenched as she slammed them upon the ground, raking her nails across the concrete. If there had still been the sleeping agent in the air she would have breathed in so much air from the crying she would most certainly have passed out again. "I killed someone with this… thing."

There was another silence before Anna spoke up.

"What happened?"

* * *

"_Hello?"_

_She looked up to see another girl walk up to her, smiling as she did. Elsa's heart rate increased marginally; people walking up to her was usually a bad thing, but this girl was so nice, so happy, she couldn't possibly be a threat to her, could she?_

"_Hi?" she replied, tentatively. Her new friend was well-dressed; in a warm coat and thick mittens and a wool cap._

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_I… live here."_

_Her companion cocked her head and looked at her, seemingly unable to comprehend what she meant. Then she shook the question off. "Do you want to build a snowman?"_

_A… snowman? Elsa didn't know what a snowman was, so she voiced her concern. "What's a snowman?"_

_Her friend laughed. "You don't know what a snowman is? Come on, I'll show you." She knelt down upon the ground and started scooping up the snow. Amidst the empty street and the frosty brick walls of the buildings beside them Elsa followed, mimicking her friend's movements as she cupped the snow into a ball. "You make one too." Elsa shaped the snow and compacted it into the ball that was required, and passed it to her friend. _

"_There we go." Her friend placed the ball upon the bigger one that now lay on the snowy ground, and grabbed one more ball for the head. Then she drew a carrot from her pocket, stuck it through the head as a nose, and added a few buttons that she drew from her pocket as well._

_They stood back, admiring their work. _

"_Do you like it?" she asked._

_An inexplicable joy filled Elsa at the sight of the snowman, and a smile crossed her face too. "How about a snowfight?" she suggested._

"_Sounds good to me." Her new friend laughed, almost instantly grabbing a handful of snow, launching the projectile at her. Elsa ducked out of the way, laughing as she did, picking up snow in her own bare hands. Her skin felt the cold snow through her torn and tattered clothing as she tossed the snowball at her friend, their figures a juxtaposition of two separate worlds, but enjoying the same, simple happiness._

_And then the next thing she knew the snowball she threw turned into a potent ice blast that struck her friend upon her forehead. With a spin she collapsed to the ground._

_The only sound left was the howling wind. No laughter. No talking._

_No breathing._

* * *

"I don't remember much else."

"What did you do with her?" Anna pressed on.

"I picked her up and ran to the doctor nearby. They called an ambulance, as far as I can remember?" Elsa stopped trembling after she recounted her tale.

"What they say to you?"

"I ran away immediately after I passed the girl to them."

"How'd you carry her all the way back?"

"I… don't know."

Anna watched Elsa's features cross with fear and sadness, her own heart filled with sympathy. Clearly she was distraught. Anna had done enough harm here, digging up painful portions of her past just to satisfy her curiosity. She cursed inwardly as she watched the tears fall from Elsa's face to the floor. "I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay. You kind of deserve to know, I suppose."

"You deserve to keep your secrets."

"If you're so hell bent on helping me, then you do need to know everything."

"So you'll let me help you?" Anna entire face lit up with happiness as she scooted to Elsa's side, much to her companion's dismay.

"I didn't say that."

"You implied it."

She snuggled up to Elsa involuntarily, almost surprised that she did so, half-blushing as she realized the implications of what she had just done. Casually she decided to change the topic. "Can we go now? Still any guys looking around?"

Elsa scrunched up her face as she focused. "No. We can go."

So they got up. And as they did Anna casually felt inside her suit and caressed the streak of blonde hair, the hair that she now recognized. The same platinum blonde shade that resided upon Elsa's hair and her own small streak.

She remembered everything. The snowman. The snowball. The cold.

But somehow, she wasn't angry. Her childhood years had been spent hating on the person that had done it to her, messing up her appearance. And even when she found out the truth, she couldn't feel the rage welling up anymore.

She wasn't sure what it was. Was it just because of the fact that time really heals all wounds? That after so long she would no longer feel the old rage she had for her aggressor that had put a "curse" on her hair, her body, her life?

Or was it just because her aggressor was Elsa?

* * *

**Sorry this took so long, getting stuck by writer's block again. Pushing through it though, had to go watch some vigilante movies to keep it realistic. If you're reading this, thanks for sticking by; none of my previous stories ever got past the 3rd chapter :D**


	13. Chapter 13

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 13_

Kristoff awoke.

_What in the blazes—?_

He pushed himself to his feet from the cold wooden floor of his apartment. He had his computer still running, and the smell of smoke filled the air. _What the hell happened—?_

The sleeping agent. Collapsing. He remembered. Somehow, somewhere, someone was pumping a sleeping agent through his vents.

But if so, why wasn't he dead—

The smoke plumes rose to the skies from the view his window provided him. In shock, he slowly moved over, taking a few tentative steps to ensure he was fit to walk. But when he got over he noticed the entire town having smoke rising from its buildings, and realized he most certainly wasn't the target.

Arendelle was the target.

Then his vision was blocked out by a gust carrying heavy amounts of snow past his window, whiting out the scenery beyond. _Snowstorm must have cleared the agent temporarily. _He reached for his phone, moved to his contacts, and located the specific number labelled "Blizzard". He pressed the call button.

It didn't work.

_Dammit, no signal._

He couldn't take the risk, assuming that Blizzard was still up and running. She could already be neutralized and lying in some corner, unable to wake up. If she was, then he was all that was left. He doubted the police force was going to anything; for all he knew what Blizzard was telling him was true, and there was really a conspiracy going on. He needed to take action, else something bad would happen to them all.

So he did.

Kristoff opened the drawer beside his bed, picking up the three cartridges and the single Glock pistol. Calmly, he slid the clip in, waiting for the click before he holstered it. Donning a white hoodie and white pants, he exited the apartment with the weapon, locking the door behind him. Then he turned away and walked down the road, his eyes training on the barely visible hydroelectric dam, also connected to the city's sewers and power grids. A problematic design.

One that was backfiring right now.

* * *

"Stay quiet, keep your head down, and follow me," she had told Anna.

But even with that instruction, she couldn't help but worry.

Her snow cover was wearing thin; her mental strength having thinned over the past duration of time, the snowstorm had begun to weaken, and so she had gotten them to put their masks back on and seal the suits as a precaution. After giving Anna a brief run-through of her suit's operations, they had set out, the sun now barely visible as a weak spotlight hanging from the sky.

Then they got within a rifle's range of the dam.

"The bitch is there! Take her out!"

Gunfire erupted from the dam. Almost instinctively Elsa dived over Anna as she dropped to her knees, making herself as small a target as possible. Elsa swept her hand in an upward motion, forming a thick sheet of ice that she levitated over them as they caught their breath. But she couldn't keep it up for long; every bullet impact jarred the energy from her mind and body, and the ice began to crack. "Go!" she half-yelled to Anna, not wanting to sound commanding but emphasizing the urgency of the situation. She threw up another shield as Anna dashed over to a nearby boulder, the incoming lead rounds glancing off the rock, sparks flying as evidence of their presence.

"Follow my lead!" Elsa conjured a new shield and pressed forth, the bullets rushing past her and impacting on the shield, Anna following closely behind, holding up her earlier sheet of ice to block the incoming rounds. They reached another boulder and ducked behind it. Just in time; the next thing Elsa knew there was a crack and a bullet trail filled the air her head had been a moment ago. _Shit, sniper. _Careful not to expose her head beyond the confines of the rock's outline, she reached to her ice men, looking through their line of sight, her mind compressing the information into a tactical map.

_Sniper on the edge of the dam._

_Reinforcements armed with auto rifles. Numbers? At least fifteen._

_Logical course of action?_

"Come on!" Elsa tossed a small sheet of ice upwards before dashing past the rock, hearing the ice shattering behind her. Her distraction worked. Her hand shot up, as did the grapple towards the dam edge, latching on to the ledge above. Gunfire started up again; a bullet grazed her nano-weave of ice as she flew towards the top, swinging her glaive in the same motion, catching the nearest gunman in the forehead. One blast of ice knocked her adversaries back, and the clatter of rifles hitting concrete was music to her ears.

Anna ascended the wall. They clearly hadn't been expecting an accomplice, for Elsa noted her comparatively slower swing with the escrima staff, but nonetheless taking out two gunmen in the same momentum.

There was a brief period of intense tension where no one did anything.

Then someone made a grab for his rifle.

Elsa flung the glaive, but ducking to avoid to punch that was meant for her face, slamming her own fist into her assailant's gut, mentally drawing upon her icemen to reinforce them. The glaive connecting as she knocked out the gunman, returning to her hand, allowing her to use the momentum to carry out another swing that struck the next gunman, sending him flying in the opposite direction. Anna jabbed out with the staff, knocking out a rifle that someone had picked out, swinging upwards to disorientate him. She spun at the click of a pistol, detaching the stick into separate parts, her left hand's stick whacking into the gunman's hand while her right slamming into his head.

But they were still outnumbered miserably. Before long they found themselves at gunpoint again, albeit only 8 remained.

Then her reinforcements turned up. Icy, brittle fists slammed into the backs of their adversaries' heads, causing them to black out. In place of the 8 gunmen stood 8 transparent iceman, their ice hardened from Elsa's development.

"We good?" Anna asked.

"Just a little bit." Elsa's hands swung, materializing brass knuckles upon her conjurations' fists.

"Now we're good."

* * *

"Someone's breaking in."

"Is it her?"

"We think so. Can't reach Jacob's patrol on the outer wall."

"Well if it's only her, then she's made a big mistake."

Petersburg cocked the AK12 as he slid against the wall. "Get the bloody door locked. If she's coming through, we don't want to make it easy for her." They were standing in the control room of the dam, deep inside the structure amidst metal piping and electric cabling. There was only one reason they were there, and that was to ensure everything was running smoothly. His mind flashed back briefly to the machine they had hooked up into the sewer system that was still pumping the sleeping agent into the city. The supply was still half full, and he would have to radio HQ later for more supply.

Now though, it looked as though things were about to get messy.

He peeked round the corner, aiming down the Kobra sight as one of his gunmen walked down the narrow entrance aisle to lock the door.

He never made it.

Even before his hand made contact with the handle the door was ripped off its hinges in a quick forward motion, the metal slamming straight into him, flinging him backwards to collapse limply upon the floor. The door itself crashed loudly, and the rest of the gunmen opened fire. Bullets ripped through the aisle, obliterating the thing that had so devastatingly taken out their door.

All that remained were pieces of hard, transparent ice.

Petersburg moved up. _What the fuck? Was this another iceman?_ "Please don't tell me one of those _things_ just ripped through our door."

A crash. His body whipped around and his head snapped up, just in time to catch the spinning blades of the glaive straight in gut, knocking the breath out of him as he fell backwards. He crashed to the floor, dropping his rifle as he raised his hands towards his stomach, trying to ward off the terrible pain that now spread throughout his whole body. _The hell? _

Through blurred and reddish vision he watched his gunmen fend themselves off against a deadly white blur, another white figure, and at least five icy men. Had he not been in pain, his reaction would consist of groaning and running, but even as his mind screamed for him to get up his hands felt like lead and his legs turned to jelly.

His insides were a different story.

But the worst were the screams. The panic. The fear. The pain as Blizzard beat the living shit out of his men. And he knew that at some point in time he'd screamed those screams, would scream if he could, and he was probably going to end up screaming pretty damn soon.

Then they died down.

An ominous sign.

The next thing Petersburg knew he was being lifted up by the neck, an iron grip clamping down on his windpipe as he was slammed against the metal piping that lined the concrete walls. His eyes caught side of the blank, cold, unfeeling white mask, the eyes behind glaring at him. _Oh no. Please no. Not again. Not fucking again—!_

"Where's the sleeping agent?" came the cold hard voice.

Petersburg stared straight back into the harsh blue eyes, defiance taking over his rational mind. "Go find it yourself you piece of shit," he spat out, "You can forget about getting anything from—"

"I won't ask again." The grip tightened as the strong hand pressed him further into the piping. _Bloody hell._ For a girl – woman – she was bloody strong.

"Go fuck yourself."

A fist slammed into his gut once, twice, thrice, then he was flung aside, straight into another concrete wall. His head took the brunt of the impact, jarring his vision and blurring it out even more. Through the haze – _Mist? Could it be mist_? – he watched the two white figures and the other icemen depart.

His legs seemed to have regained some strength. Gently he strained his leg muscles in an attempt to push himself up into a sitting position. But he didn't. He couldn't move.

His entire lower body had been encased in a thick layer of hard, unyielding ice.

_Fuck._ His first instinct was to struggle, straining his muscles more. Maybe if he found a weak spot, he could break free. Maybe if he found a way to melt the ice. But he didn't. He stretched out to grab the AK12, and slammed the butt of the rifle into the icy encasing with whatever strength he had left. The impact broke some ice off, the impact cracks showing up clearly through the transparent surface, but he still couldn't budge.

He'd been beaten. Again.

By a girl in over her head.

Almost with a sense of dread he retrieved the mobile phone from his pocket, struggling to wiggle it out amidst the hard icy casing. But he got it out in the end, and hit the number he kept a button's press away. "Boss. We've got a problem?"

"What the hell happened there?"

"Dam's being attacked by that bitch again. My crew is neutralized, and I'm frozen."

"You what?"

"I need help. Can't deal with the bitch this way."

"Fucking hell. I'll get a crew up there, but we are going to have a talk after this." The words sent chills down Petersburg's spine, more than the icy cold that emanated from his lower body. Screwing up for the big guy was no joke, hell no, but this was turning from screwing up to getting constantly wrecked. Not only was it a matter of efficiency, it was a matter of pride.

One that he was unwilling to take lying down.

* * *

"The hell is this?"

"An EMP charge."

Anna's eyes narrowed. "How do you get your hands on EMP charges? What the hell, are these even legal?"

"I inherited my parents' weapons company. How else do you think I get all my equipment? I don't exactly walk into a grocery store and buy two polymer escrima sticks."

"You make a fair point."

"Go find the machine. I'll radio you if I find it first, but you need to do the same."

"Alright. Where do I start looking?"

"That way." Elsa pointed towards one of the staircases. "I don't know the schematics for the dam, or this stupid place for that matter, but this place has our power grid, databanks and sewer system connected with each other. It's bound to be here somewhere."

"Okay. Let's go." Anna turned to leave, but a gloved hand grabbed on to her own gauntlets, and she turned. "Be careful," Elsa said. "I… I don't want you getting hurt."

"I know. You be careful too."

"I always am."

* * *

Anna peeked around the corner, gripping the escrima sticks tightly like a comfort blanket.

No one.

The light coming from the hanging lights cast an almost annoying glare upon the dull concrete surroundings as she walked. Her footsteps made a soft patter sound as her suit's hard surface landed upon the concrete, lightly scraping as she made her way along the halls.

She opened the next door she came to.

No, it certainly wasn't the machine she was looking for. How did she know? Because her mask's HUD had just filled up with dots, dots and more blue dots.

Almost shocked, she instinctively threw up her hand, not realizing immediately that it wasn't an external light source, but merely the HUD's programmed function. She swore. _Goddammit, Elsa, you had to program your HUD to register every single little data file downloadable—_

_Wait. Data files?_ So she hadn't found the machine. She found more machines though, of a different kind.

The data banks.

The result of poor urban planning. Putting all of the crucial data into one, insecure and hackable location. She assumed the place would have been better defended if the sleeping agent hadn't passed through. The bodies of unconscious guards lying near the entrance confirmed her hypothesis.

_Well, it can't hurt to look._

As a personal issue of morality Anna refused to take so much as a glance at the citizen information data sector. She couldn't. It was privacy infringement. Though she made a mental note that finding Elsa's file would prove to be rather intriguing, to find out the legal side behind how she'd gone from street orphan to inheritor of some huge empire.

There were some interesting files in there. She found the files for the city power grid, noting how vulnerable it was to external intrusion. She found the files for all registered companies within the city. An easy target should someone ever want to remove the competition. She found the files containing the numbers to the bank vault. She supposed there wouldn't be a point even if she had looked inside those files; the vault had been destroyed recently for some reason by a group of armed gunmen.

Then something caught her eye.

Aside from its strange title, the file was completely inconspicuous. **Project Snowflake. Last edited: 1995.**

That was 19 years ago.

Curiosity got the better of her, so Anna used the interface to wirelessly download the file, the loading bar filling up in mere seconds, and the file opened before her eyes.

**-Project Snowflake-**

**Abstract: ****_With the advances in genetic technology and more recent "supernatural" occurrences, the project aims to artificially induce genetic modifications to control and possess various superhuman powers. Test subject 01 undergoing testing for manipulation of ice._**

**Test subject 01: ****_Healthy zygote. Genes inserted, genome altered. Implanted into host, codename IGLOO._**

**IGLOO: ****_Idun Winchester, wife of Agdar Winchester._**

**-Status: ****_Complete _|****_ Unresolved_****-**

_What the hell? HUMAN TESTING?_ Anna couldn't believe what she was reading, her heart rate picking up as she scrolled through the file, mortified at its contents, her heart filling with dread. But soon after she came a sudden, shocking, devastating realization.

She didn't get to process that realization properly before something slammed into the back of her head, knocking her out.

* * *

_There you are._

Elsa had found the sewer system. Or at least, the main exposed pipeline.

The one that had the machine hooked up to.

Her eyes scanned the machinery, her brain skimming through the visual information, reaching into her mental reserves, bringing up her knowledge of machinery she had studied for almost three years straight until it had been internalized so well she couldn't see machines any other way anymore. She found the canister that contained the sleeping agent, and the mechanism that was pumping it.

It didn't matter. She placed the EMP charge and set the 5 second detonator. Then she hit it, diving away to prevent her suit's own electronics from being fried, bringing up her glaive to ward off the blast.

It half-worked. Her HUD fizzed and filled with static temporarily, and then returned to normal. _It better. I buffed up its EMP resistance, a project I worked on for months._ The lights above had also fizzled out, so she hit her suit's own flashlight, the beam shining straight in front of her. She located the machine, inspecting its fried electronics. _Fried to hell, but replaceable. Let's just make sure that they have a hard time doing so._

She slammed the glaive into the machine, crushing its insides, and she retrieved the canister containing the sleeping agent. She'd have to dispose of this somehow. "Anna?" she radioed. "I found the machine, and dealt with it. We're getting out of here."

No response.

"Anna?"

Silence.

Panic welled up within her. _You fucking retard! You knew this could happen, and you still cursed her with this life. You let her come along. How can you hope to save people if you can't even save the person you care about most?_

"Locate SUIT 2," she spoke into the interface, and the program started running, finally getting a lock-on. She broke into a run. If she hadn't been in such a panic she would probably have let her thoughts come to a stop if she realized she considered Anna the person she cared about most.

But right now all that mattered was getting her back.

_Hold on, Anna. I'm coming._

_Just hold on._


	14. Chapter 14

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 14_

**Fifteen minutes earlier**

For a moment he thought he smelt it again.

Then it was gone.

But he wasn't one to take chances. Wrapping a cloth around his nose and mouth Kristoff put on sunglasses, the only thing he had to complete his cover as he made his way up the road towards the dam. It was dark and inconvenient, but it would have to do. He didn't want anyone knowing who he was. The pistol rested comfortably in the holster attached to his belt, partially covered by the white hoodie. It was a habit for Kristoff to feel it, to make sure it was still there. To say the least, it gave him a sense of security.

That when things went to shit he still had some kind of backup plan.

The snowstorm had kept up. Through the strong gales blowing snow into his face he pushed forth along the lonely road, the metal of his pistol getting colder and colder. He was consciously aware they he would draw attention, being one of the only few people no longer affected by the sleeping agent, and that he wasn't amongst the ranks of criminals crawling around the city.

He'd have to find whatever the hell was pumping the agent into the sewer system. Kristoff realized how ridiculously outnumbered and outgunned he was going to be. And even if he could get past the gunmen somehow, he didn't know where the hell the machine was, and didn't know how to shut it down. His plan was stupid, pointless and suicidal.

But he needed to give it a shot somehow.

Then he heard the gunshots.

His first reaction was to duck, then he realized they were distant. They weren't looking for him, neither were those bullets meant for him. _So if they're shooting…_

…_that just means someone's there trying to stop them._

Kristoff broke into a run.

* * *

**Present time**

Anna awoke.

_What in god's name—_

Her eyes opened to the sight of the metal barrel of an AK12 pointed straight at her head. The nerves in her arms restarted; she felt iron-like grips restraining her arms. Her legs were still way too weak, so she couldn't move them.

Her mask was still on. _Thank god._ The data on the file remained on top of the HUD, but she had bigger problems at hand than an immoral science experiment.

"Hello, bitch." The man holding the gun finally spoke. "Had a nice sleep? I know I didn't, ice is way too cold."

His voice lacked the humour required for his words to count as jokes.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." That earned her a rifle butt slammed into her face. The mask absorbed the impact, but her head still snapped back from the force and her nose felt the painfully jarring shockwaves.

"Where's your accomplices?"

"I don't know."

Another whack. The pain had begun to spread to Anna's head. _Don't let it get to you, don't show that you're weak, don't—_

"I won't ask again." She vaguely heard the safety lever of the rifle being flicked, and the man adjusted his aim, this time pressing the barrel to her forehead. There was no way he was going to miss. "Where are they?"

"Right here, you pieces of shit." A familiar voice echoed down the hall she was being held in. She twisted her head briefly to take in her surroundings. They were surrounded by concrete. Generators. Water pumps.

And down the hall stood Elsa.

Somewhere within the bottom of her heart relief washed over her, and she fought back tears as she watched her companion walk forwards tentatively, her eyes narrowed into dangerously thin slits. "Let her go." She took one step forward. Then another. And another.

"I don't think so." The man pressed the barrel of the gun into Anna's head. "One more step and I blow her brains out." Elsa stopped walking.

She tried to get the feeling in her back to return. Vaguely she seemed to feel the weight of the escrima sticks still attached to the suit. Evidently the gunmen either didn't consider them a weapon or simply didn't bother to remove them. "Stay calm," a voice crackled in her ear, coming out as a whisper. "I'm going to get you outta here, Anna. I promise."

"Drop your weapon, Blizzard," the man continued, "and put your hands up." Anna watched as Elsa gripped her glaive tightly, almost as if she would refuse, but then she let go and the glaive clattered upon the floor. Elsa raised her hands tentatively.

"Stay where you are. If you so much as wince your friend here is dead."

"What do you want?"

"To see you die."

The following silence was deafening.

"Do you trust me?" came the voice through her radio.

Anna mustered both the courage and strength to nod at Elsa.

"Kill the bitch," Anna heard him order. One of the gunmen raised the rifle and took aim at Elsa. He didn't get to fire. From her raised palms shot forth two bolts of ice; the first knocked the rifle out of the gunman's hands, and the next knocked back the man holding Anna at gunpoint.

The minor disorientation was all the time Elsa needed. Her foot slammed down on the glaive, flipping it up to her arm just as she swung, infusing the blades with the residual energy from the blasts, leaving a bluish trail as the glaive flew across the room, catching the first gunmen in the head, only to ricochet to the next. She broke into a run the moment her body completed the swing, lashing out with her hands to fire more potent blasts of ice at the remaining gunmen, her ice shields involuntarily conjuring to block the deadly hail of lead that leapt towards her.

Then Anna was free. Frantically she reached behind her, drawing out the escrima sticks and leaping to her feet. Slamming them together to form the staff she swung at the nearest gunman who had just begun to get up. Someone grabbed the two sides of the staff from behind and pulled the shaft towards her; Anna slipped under it, spun and kicked her assailant, snatching her staff back, only to spin it and whack another potential assailant in the head, knocking him out.

"Stop!" she heard the man yell. Her head snapped around, her staff following the motion of her body.

"One more move and I blow this place to hell."

* * *

_You again._

Elsa stared at the man holding the detonator. The same one she had interrogated, the same one she had beat the crap out of during the assault on the university. Petersburg. She hadn't enjoyed it then, but given how he was fucking shit up all the time, she wasn't so sure she was going to maintain that opinion. "Analyze device," she said into the interface, her HUD's reticules targeting the detonator, bringing up its schematics and components.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked, glaring straight into his eyes.

"You're going to lay down your weapon, put your hands in the air where I can see them. You fire off a single bolt of ice and my finger presses down on this detonator." Petersburg moved the hand holding the detonator behind his back. Her HUD reacted, highlighting the device in a red outline, its analysis completed, the data uploaded to her HUD. It was analog, impossible to hack using the software she was using. Everything on the thing was manual.

Their lives, and possibly those in the town below, had just been taken hostage.

Elsa swore under her breath. She couldn't even make sure Anna was safe. She couldn't even make sure anyone was safe. But she was going to make sure some little bitch wasn't going to screw everything up, screw everyone's lives up. She needed to think of something fast.

"Drop the weapon. I won't ask again."

Elsa dropped the glaive. The clattering of the polymer echoed the fear that reverberated off the wall of her heart. "Do as he says," she spoke through the radio to Anna. The clang of her staff dropping to the floor followed.

Her own eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't dare blow this place to hell."

"Don't try me."

"Everything else down there will be destroyed." She took a forceful step forward, her hands clenched in a fighting stance, her mindset too far attuned to taking out the threat to have much of restrain left. "Is it really worth it for you?"

"Hell yeah."

"I don't think so. What's in it for you?"

"I get to watch you die."

"Are you that far gone? How much is he really paying you for this?" That got no response out from him. She was on the right track. "What you gonna do with all that money when everything's gone?"

"Shut up."

"You willing to kill off your friends? Your family? Just to see me die?"

"Shut UP!"

"And who's going to pay you when your boss dies?"

"SHUT UP!" Elsa heard the click of his pistol as she watched the barrel point straight at her face, her brain lacking the reflex and comprehension to conjure up her reaction, the only thought running through her mind was that she would die right there and then.

_Wait a minute. There were two clicks._

"Drop the gun."

She turned her head toward the sound. Another man had joined them. Also dressed in white, and pointing a Glock pistol at Petersburg.

The police officer.

"Kristoff?" she heard Anna breathe behind her. _So that's his name._

"I won't ask again," he said, aiming the gun at Petersburg's head. "Drop your weapon and get on the ground."

"You can't threaten me." Petersburg tossed the gun aside, raised the detonator, and hit the button. "NO!" Elsa yelled, her suit picking up the signal transmission but powerless to stop it. "Trace signal, identify recipient device."

"Go ahead!" Petersburg raised both his arms. "Shoot me. Waste your time. Either way you're not getting out of this place alive. NONE OF US are getting out alive."

Her suit beeped as it tracked the charges. Multiple of them. Elsa had run out of EMP charges for the job, and even she did have sufficient there was no way she was going to place them down in time. The charges had been well-placed along the dam, and the detonator had instead set off a five minute countdown. He was right. One way or the other the dam was going down.

Slowly her fear turned to dread as she realized what she had to do.

But could she do it?

_No. I can't. I'd only hurt people again. I can't risk it._

The timer reached 4 minutes.

"Run," Elsa turned towards Anna. "Get out of here."

"But you—"

"Kristoff, get Anna out of here. I'll deal with this."

"Wait. ANNA?!" She watched him turn straight towards Anna, who removed her mask and gave him a sheepish grin. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she said.

"Then who is this?"

"My identity will be revealed to you in due course, since I know I can trust you," Elsa went on. "But right now you have more important things to think about. Get out of here. Now."

"What about—"

"This fucker can die here for all I care." On impulse Elsa walked up towards Petersburg and dealt a devastating kick to his face, sending him flying into the nearby wall. "Get out of here. You have four minutes before the place goes down."

"I was going to ask about you."

"I'll be fine." She tried not to let the fear in her voice betray the bravado she was putting on now. But she wasn't sure she succeeded. "Go."

"Elsa—"

She turned towards Anna, and with every ounce of persuasion she still had left she said, "Go. Please."

Elsa watched the fear and resignation in Anna's eyes become all the more evident, before she closed them shut and turned to run, Kristoff following nearby. She took one last look at the prone body of Petersburg, spat at it, and ran. Up the staircase, past the carnage and damage to the interior of the dam, past all the havoc she had wrecked and up to the top of the dam. The majestic view of the valley and Arendelle below meant nothing to her.

The only things that mattered was the timer reaching two minutes and thirty seconds, and the great body of water in front of her.

She had spent her whole life concealing her powers. Restraining them. Curbing them. And now she had to unleash it all. She was fully aware of the implications; she'd hurt people, almost killed them with this "gift". But she'd no other choice. If she was going to save everyone from the deadly torrent of water that would soon follow in two minutes and fifteen seconds, she would have to take that risk.

_Let it go._

Elsa's blue eyes flared blue, pure blue, her irises completely overcome by blue light, their beams shining prominently from her eye sockets. Her hands stretched outwards to her sides, her palms gushing her power outwards in swirls that only increased in intensity. Her legs went limp as she levitated off the floor, stray bolts of magic lashing out like electricity upon the concrete below. The snowstorm that was raging in the town behind her rushed forth, blowing past her towards the water before her, the snowflakes slicing past her skin as she dropped the temperature drastically.

_Upon this day I hereby swear—_

1 minute, 30 seconds, decreasing fast.

_The forces of evil will cower in fear…_

From her outstretched palms shot twin beams of pure magic, their icy potency whipping outwards to make contact with the water surface. A crack, and the first ice formed, spreading rapidly over the huge body of water.

_Ne'er rest, till they flee in fright—_

30 seconds. 30 seconds left for her to finish what she started. 30 seconds left of this ordeal. 30 seconds, and it would all be over.

_From the great power of the snowstorm's might…_

Like an icy blast, a single thought, a single word crystallized within her head, more pure and more potent than anything she had ever experienced. Her mind struggled to cope with the backlash, but her mental strength held, manifesting her thought through her magic in the only way that she knew.

_**Freeze.**_

0 seconds.

The charges blew. Little explosions that soon ballooned into something worse, much much worse that sent huge concrete chunks flying and flowing along the first but huge torrents of water that cascaded down the valley, relentless tearing down anything in its way as it rushed towards its final destination: Arendelle.

_**Freeze.**_

* * *

Anna latched on to the ledge, and grabbed Kristoff by his hoodie. Lucky for her, years of training had made her stronger than the average girl. Save for Elsa, but then again, she wasn't exactly average. She jumped, dragging Kristoff along (coupled with his scream) towards the ground, upon which the gauntlets' grapple slowed their descent and allowed them to disembark. She didn't know when the charges were due to detonate, but she ran nonetheless, her friend hot on her heels.

Then the snowstorm hit.

The gales that slammed into Anna knocked her straight into the ground. They were strong, beyond strong, so powerful that she screamed in her effort to push herself back up. Kristoff recovered faster, and rushed over to help her up against the fast-blowing gales. Her suit responded, adding an additional layer of nano-weave to protect its user. But her mind wasn't there, her thoughts left behind as she had seen Elsa run up the staircase and disappear from view.

_Please be safe._

And then she heard the explosions.

She watched as the dam crumbled to pieces before her eyes, and couldn't help feel helpless from her distance as she took in the sight of the huge torrent rush into the valley below. They'd failed.

Arendelle was doomed.

_Crack!_ Her head snapped up towards the sound, and she watched the ice ripped through the flow of water. The huge torrent stopped in its tracks, its clear and transparent surface frosting over with ice as it froze solid. The cold snap dashed along, catching up towards the end of the torrent, and with one final loud crack the torrent was no more.

In its place was the most beautiful glacier she had ever seen.

And then Anna watched a figure drop from the sky like an angel falling from grace.

* * *

Her vision went blue.

Then it faded to black.

Elsa let the power fade away, as her fading vision surveyed her work. Frozen. The whole body of water had turned to ice, and Arendelle had a new glacier to look upon without being totally obliterated. Then her tired eyelids closed shut, and she felt a strange and new sensation overcome her.

It wasn't new. It was familiar.

It was falling.

Her eyes widened as she swung, encasing her body in a protective layer of ice just before she hit the very glacier she had created, shattering the layer on impact and sending shockwaves through her body. She slid along the ice, slamming hard into one particular formation that had froze just as a jet of water was sent flying during the torrent. Her head spun with her body, her grip on consciousness fading every second until she hit solid ground, the momentum sending her tumbling for a good few feet before she came to a stop. Her body radiated with pain as she struggled to push herself up before her arms gave way and she collapsed back down.

_No…_

_Not now…_

_Please…_

She heard footsteps. Urgent footsteps. Some kind of yelling. Warm hands wrapped themselves around her body and lifted her, away from the cold unfeeling ground. The snowstorm had stopped, but for the first time she felt something unfamiliar. Some kind of disquiet.

She felt cold.

_So this is what… cold feels like…_

_How strange… It's so familiar…_

_Or maybe it never bothered me anyway…_

Her head lolled to and fro as she was lifted into a more proper grip before she felt the movement of walking feet. And as she looked upon the bleak sun that hung in the sky she blacked out.


	15. Chapter 15

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 15_

Whiteness.

For a while she was blinded by the light. It encapsulated her reality; there was nothing beyond it. Nothing less than that either. Just the light and her.

"In the early hours of today…"

Her eyes flickered, her eyelids lifting the veil from a piercing blue eyes as she stared back into the realm of reality. Pain assaulted her head, but just briefly; soon the sensation was gone and replaced by a sense of serenity, calm and peace.

"…severe structural damage to the dam…"

Elsa shot up, lashing out her hand to pick up her glaive, then recalibrated her brain upon realizing that everything was drastically different. _Wait. Where am I? What's going on?_ Her eyes darted around the room, scanning for clues her mind would pick up. Her surroundings were familiar; very familiar in fact. She knew this place, she knew where she was, but she just couldn't place her finger on it—

This was her room.

Her room back in the apartment, near the university.

_So what the hell happened?_

"…eyewitnesses report a new, almost transparent glacier forming from the wreckage of the dam…" The memory of what had happened suddenly rushed back into her head, the pain also rushing back to her body. She'd let the dam blow, and tried to freeze the resulting deluge of water that had burst from its structure. But her mind failed her.

_Did it work? Did I do it?_

Her eyes looked upward at the source of the sound; the TV blaring the morning news. _Wait – morning news? How long have I been out? _"Governor Hans had this to say about the incident."

Her head lay back upon her pillow as she watched the broadcast, the screen flickering a little as she watched the figure of Governor Hans walk up to the podium, pieces of paper in his hands as he began to deliver a speech. She sighed. Governor Hans never struck her as a particularly capable politician or person, and she didn't quite trust his leadership. But he seemed fine; he wasn't causing any trouble.

"Citizens of Arendelle, today we are faced with a new threat."

Elsa kind of knew what was coming.

"Our intelligence sources can confirm a new force interfering in state affairs, dishing out a personalized version of 'justice' upon our great city."

She had prepared herself for this for years. How long had it been when she realized not everyone was going to be grateful? Elsa had enforced the barriers around her emotions, wrapped her heart in, ironically, cold layers of ice to shield herself from the pain – the hurt – and to ensure she would never hold back in a fight. It was a tough business to be in, so she had to be prepared.

But it still hurt.

"With these in mind I now issue an arrest warrant—"

_They hate you._

"—for the masked vigilante—"

_Conceal, don't feel._

"—known, as Blizzard."

_Don't let it show—_

"Elsa?" Her head snapped up to the sight of Anna standing in the doorway. She was wearing a long-sleeved blue T-Shirt and jeans, her hoodie tied around her waist. Elsa didn't know why, but she somehow felt just a little bit better seeing her. "Are you okay?" she went on.

_Am I – oh. _Elsa felt a wetness on her cheeks, and she quickly swiped the tears away with the back of her hand, almost as if she could erase that sight from Anna's mind. "I – I'm fine."

"For a vigilante, you're a bad liar." She moved over to the chair next to Elsa's bed and sat down, almost involuntarily reaching out to clasp her hand. The contact was sheer bliss; Elsa reveled in the warmth and the intimacy of the touch, and fought the urge to lie back and close her eyes. "How do you feel?"

_Broken. Hurt. In more ways than one. _"I'm fine."

"Lying again."

"Am I that bad?"

"I'm just good at picking out these things." A smirk formed upon Anna's face, and Elsa's features involuntarily lit up with a small smile. "So tell me. What happened?"

She could probably tell what was going on from the direction that Elsa's eyes were pointed at. "Oh. I see."

There was an awkward silence save for the broadcast of Governor Hans' speech carrying on in the background. "Look," Anna began, "I don't think—"

"I could have killed you." The first tears began to emerge from her eyes. "I could have failed, and you would have died at their hands and I wouldn't have been able to save you. You could have died right there and then I—"

She was silenced by a finger placed upon her lips, and equally bright eyes starting to shimmer and brim with tears. "Please – please don't say that."

"But it's true!" The memories of the events now came flooding back to her, as did the fear and the hurt and the panic and the confusion. "I – I could have missed. And he would – he would've have pulled the trigger—" Her hands were already shaking, her eyes darting wildly from side to side, her skin beginning to frost over with a thin layer of ice as her head screamed _MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP I DON'T WANT TO PANIC ANYMORE, I DON'T WANT TO RUN AWAY PLEASE JUST MAKE IT STOP—_

"ELSA!" Anna's hand gripped tightly onto hers, her fingers digging into her palm, the pricks of pain racing up her nerves that jolted her out of her reverie; her eyes took on a less nebulous blue, her skin's ice layer receded. She felt a tingling sensation on her other hand, realizing that she had summoned another swirl of potent magic involuntarily. "I – I can't even protect the people that matter the most to me—"

She stopped. Everything stopped. Her words, her thoughts.

_Did I just say that out loud?_

Her eyes, her twin blue orbs clouded with panic as she watched an unreadable expression cross Anna's face. _No wait, that's not possible, I'm trained to read all kinds of faces._ Perhaps she was just panicking far too much for her skills to kick in, for her instincts to take over and rationalize her situation, the confusion and loss setting in. _Fuck fuck fuck now what do I do what am I supposed to do I don't even—_

Her eyes clenched shut.

It was her standard response, to hide away from her fear. That maybe if she couldn't see it then it wouldn't find her. It was a childish response, a childish and immature reaction, but these scraps left from her childhood were all she had left of her humanity. So she forced herself to open her eyes, to look straight at Anna. To confront her fears, her passion, her desires.

To confront her.

And through her trembling lips she forced out the phrase "I'm so, so sorry. For everything I've done to your life."

Fear.

Regret.

She was suddenly aware of the goosebumps on her skin. Elsa expected some kind of outburst, something that would tell her how Anna felt, whether she was just sad and furious at the words that had exited her mouth, and the actions and consequences she had imposed upon her life.

But no. There wasn't. "I'll just go, and, you know, get some breakfast." Anna got up to leave, her face completely neutral as she did, leaving Elsa still lying in bed, her emotions convoluted in a whirlpool of confusion, her platinum blonde hair splaying out as she lay back on the pillow. She heard the door close, and attempted to discern a possible change in emotions, but she couldn't. Was she too emotionally compromised to analyze the response, or was Anna really that unreadable?

_What in the world have I done?_

Elsa slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, her skin feeling the contact of her hair. She'd spent years with it tied up just so she could transition in and out of combat seamlessly, and worked so late she sometimes forgot to untie it before she fell asleep. She'd tied it up for so long that the contact was unfamiliar.

Something that no girl should ever feel.

She buried her head in her hands. _What have I become?_ She'd gone from being a newly-orphaned, frightened girl to battle-hardened street fighter, and then a daughter inheriting an empire, who'd afterward honed her talents to become a vigilante. But it was only right now, when she'd seen Anna, seen the way she walked, talked, smiled, went about her daily life, did she realize how much she didn't fit in. How much of an outcast she was.

How much of a failure she was.

She slammed her fist against the wall, feeling the pain shoot up her arm. What was pain anyway? Just a sensation. Just a feeling to fill up the empty space after the jarring shockwaves sent through her bone. But as ironic as it was, as much as a filler she thought it was, it was all she had left.

Pain.

Tears rolled down her cheeks freely as she sat there, pressing her fist against the white walls of their room. _You're pathetic,_ a voice in her head said. _Your life is pain. You are the harbinger of pain, but you credit yourself to be a reliever of pain. You think you're capable? You think you're actually making their lives better?_

Something wet trailed down her hand.

A droplet of blood.

Elsa retracted her hand, first looking at her now injured limb, bleeding in multiple places with the flows trickling down her hand. She made sure none of it reached the clean white bedspread, carefully catching the droplets with her other hand. That was when she noticed that the wall was now cracked, splinters broken but still stuck to it, a clear indentation marked by cracks creating from the impact.

_You are worthless._

She swung her legs off the bed and made her way to their bathroom, washing away the blood on her hands. It was a flesh wound, so the injuries weren't serious; in most cases Elsa was more concerned about the damage she caused to everything else but herself. Her drained spirit weighed down on her legs; her steps came slow and heavy, making the woodboards creak as she walked towards the table, her eyelids drooping, not from physical exhaustion but from giving up.

_I can't protect them._

_If I can't even protect Anna, how do I protect anyone? Anyone at all?_

A secondary and potentially pressing question sliced through her head, and she felt partially guilty from allowing it to distract her. _Where the hell is my stuff?_

She found the glaive lying at the side of the living room, next to the escrima sticks. Both their suits were hanging in their apartment, drying, and Anna had helped to wash off a few bloodstains that Elsa had noticed the day before. Their masks lay on the table face down, but generally her stuff had been organized. Her heart ached all the more; she'd condemned the only girl she loved, and she still did these things for her.

_Loved? What do you know about true love, Elsa? How dare you impose your misguided definitions upon her._

Anna had said something about getting breakfast, so she sat down upon the sofa, and picked up Anna's mask. She decided right there and then: _I won't ever let Anna into this again. After she comes back I'll leave. It's for her own good._

So she put in on, so that she could initiate the data removal of Anna's body signature, so it would never have any trace of her, and never be allowed for her use again.

_Wait. What the hell is this—?_

**Project Snowflake.**

_NO. This – this can't be…_ With grim determination she forced herself to open the file.

And then she saw it.

She saw it all. The experiments. The discovery. The detailed reports.

But the details mattered the most. She recognized the names. The location. The "exo-project assignments", the abduction, the memory wipe.

The whistleblower.

And the silencing.

All of this. This was **her.** Who she was, where she came from, and her bloody past. She knew, at last.

And she broke down and cried.

* * *

"Adgar, what the hell are you—"

"On the ground. NOW!" He pointed the gun at the scientists in the lab, sending them screaming and scrambling for cover. "The next time anyone of you move you'll get a bullet in your skull. I don't want to hurt you."

Idun rushed through the room, her hand producing a flash drive from her lab coat, sliding to a halt in front of Adgar's research station to plug in the flash drive. "Okay, I'm initiating the data transfer. Did you lock the car?"

"Yes. Elsa will be safe."

"Adgar?" Alexander entered the room with a beep from the lab door, to which he found the barrel of the gun pointed straight at him. "Get down, Alex, or I won't hesitate to put you down too." Adgar watched the man crouch upon his knees, raising his hands above his head. "Stay this way."

"Halfway there," Idun said. "Just a while longer."

"Adgar, why are you doing this?" Alexander continued. "Why do you have to—"

"Shut up, Alex," Adgar said, his pitch rising into a warning tone as he released the safety on the gun. "Another word, and you're done for."

"Come on, Adgar. You can't, admit it. You don't have the courage to pull the trigger."

"75 percent."

"Why are you doing this? There's no way you can—"

"Alex!"

"I'm sorry, Adgar." Alexander watched the mix of confusion and fear flash through Adgar's eyes at his words, and found the opening he needed. He hit the alarm.

The blaring of the warning alarm galvanized Adgar back into action, and he sucked in a breath, aimed and fired straight at Alexander. There was no sound apart from the gunshot at first; Alexander's form collapsed to the ground, but as Adgar lowered his hand he noticed he was trembling. Then he heard his cries of pain.

"We're good." Idun jolted him back to reality. "We need to go. Now."

"Of course." Adgar aimed straight up and fired off three shots, sending the scientists screaming and ducking behind their hiding places as they both dashed out of the complex. Already he could hear the sound of police cars. _No, they won't be ordinary police cars. He's got the whole thing tied up so hard I won't be surprised if they're special agents. _Adgar raced to the Ford Mustang parked in the basement and leaped inside, Idun close behind, lifting Elsa up onto her lap. "She's so scared," she said, turning to Adgar, but he couldn't come up with a response. Just for a moment, he couldn't react.

Then he started the ignition, and slammed the pedal to the metal.

As the car slammed past the stop barriers at the entrance of the carpark a black SUV slammed into the side, sending his Mustang spinning. Adgar wrestled with the wheel, regained control and resumed speeding down the road, two SUVs in pursuit. At this point he couldn't give two shits about the traffic lights; he changed gears and executed a drift along the turn, smoothly sliding back onto the road while the SUVs attempted to slow down to turn. That would buy him some time, but not long. With satisfaction he saw one SUV crash headlong into a bus through his rearview mirror, but his heart sank as he saw another SUV resume its pursuit.

This wouldn't do. He would need to get out of the city; reinforcements would locate him any minute. The worst thing that could happen would be for a chopper to mark him; that would literally end all hope of him getting away with his wife and daughter. He made a sharp turn, but this time the SUV kept up; they were already on the road into the forest.

But the SUV was somehow faster than his Mustang.

He felt one sharp jerk as his tail was shunted by the SUV along the icy, slippery forest road. Elsa whimpered, and he noticed Idun grasp her ever so tighter. He applied his maximum pressure onto the accelerator, but along this straight road he was helpless: a mistake he had realized far too late. He felt another sharp jerk and his speed faltered due to a minor spin, but that was all that was necessary for the SUV to catch up to him on the right, and by then they were on a ridge.

With its cliff on the left.

The SUV slammed into his car one last time, sending it spinning off the ridge, first impacting upon the rocky face before starting a deadly tumble.

_I'm so sorry._

Adgar felt something hit him in the back of the head, and everything turned savagely dark.

* * *

Idun awoke.

The heat. Oh the terrible, terrible heat.

"Momma?"

Shock hit her straight in the face. "Elsa?" Her first reaction was the reach out to grab her, but was confronted by a sharp pain. Then she looked down.

Her seatbelt was constraining her in a tangled mess. Her right hand was impaled with metal though her left hand was free. And something was sticking through her stomach. The pain slammed into her like a tsunami, the nausea altering her rationality, disrupting her mental state. But one, single clear train of thought penetrated her cloudy reality.

She wasn't making it out alive.

Idun turned her head, looking at her husband on her left. He was in a much worse state; something was piercing through his forehead. She fought back the tears as she forced herself to confront the more important issue here.

"E – Elsa?"

"Yes momma?"

Idun forced herself to smile the bravest possible smile she could muster as she looked straight into Elsa's wonderful blue eyes. "I need you to climb out of the car, and run away from here."

"Why momma?" Elsa's innocent face looked back up at her. "Come with me!"

"I can't, darling. You'll have to go on without me." A bead of cold sweat trickled down her forehead. Her body was screwed up; despite the winter outside, she felt terribly hot from the fire raging in the engine in front of her. "Please? Just this once, for mommy."

"Okay!" Elsa gave her a heart-wrenching smile as she pressed down upon her injured body to push herself out of the car, but Idun's urgency was increasing with every second that passed, fully aware of what was about to happen.

"Elsa, you can go faster, can't you?"

"Yes, I can mommy!" Elsa broke off into a small run into the distance, but soon stopped in the snowdrifts, confused. "Momma?" she called.

And with every last ounce of strength Idun barely managed to half-shout, just audible for Elsa to hear, "Conceal. Don't feel."

Then a flash of white, and her very being was consumed.

* * *

Elsa heard the door open. _Fuck it. I don't even care anymore._

"Elsa?" Her heart sank immediately for speaking that tone in her head. "What – what's going on?"

_Oh Anna, now I know why you kept this from me,_ she thought to herself as she saw Anna walk over, seeing the mask in her hand. "Oh. I… I er…"

Elsa felt bad, so bad for letting her stand there and attempt to awkward out the situation. She didn't deserve this. She deserved none of the pain Elsa was going through now. She was too pure, too innocent; to corrupt her with Elsa's reality would be to murder a cute fluffy bunny rabbit, and turn it into a zombie. A terrible, terrible transformation.

And it was her fault.

"I'm sorry," Anna blurted out. "I didn't—"

"It isn't your fault." Elsa dropped the mask upon the table. "You couldn't have prepared for this."

"But I—"

"Even if you had showed it to me, I – I probably would have reacted the same way." She slammed her injured hand upon their coffee table and recoiled instantaneously, wincing in pain, forcing more tears out of her eyes. "I'm a failure."

"No you're not—"

"I'm a FUCKING SCIENCE EXPERIMENT, GODDAMMIT! I'M A FREAK!" Elsa yelled, half-shocked by her own outburst but in the red mist of her raging she couldn't care. "I can't protect ANYONE. Not the people I care about, not the people that don't care about me. I'm a FAILURE, Anna. I'M A FAILURE!"

Her words echoed off the walls around her, the meaning of her words slapping her in the face. _She didn't deserve that, you PIECE OF SHIT. She was trying to be nice, trying to help, and you just trampled on her, stepped on her and kicked her where it hurt the most. You monster—_

She felt Anna sit down beside her, her face no longer unreadable, but sympathetic and sad. And not a trace of anger.

"Please don't say that."

"Why not…" Elsa managed to mutter. "That's what I am to begin with."

"It hurts when you say that about yourself."

_Hurts? Why? Why would it?_ Elsa buried her face in her hands, ashamed at what she had done, what she had become. _Why do you keep hurting people?_

Anna took her hands and pulled them away from her tear-stained face, putting a gentle hand on her cheek to turn Elsa's gaze towards her own. "You're not a failure, Elsa."

"But—"

"You've done so much for all of us."

"And hurt you all too."

"Everyone gets hurt," Anna said as she squeezed Elsa's hands. "And as powerful as you are" – Anna caressed Elsa's palms, the very ones she could use to turn ice against her adversaries – "even you aren't that superhuman. The police can't save everybody. All the people in the world can't save everybody. So you shouldn't beat yourself up for it."

Elsa remained silent, unwilling to blurt out something that might potentially hurt Anna again.

"The thing is, I want you to know, that no matter how alone or desolate or hopeless you feel, you should know that at least one person thinks you're not a failure. That you're beautiful. In more ways than one. That this person knows what you're doing is your very best, and you've never given up, even on people that were scared of you. Hated you."

She pushed Elsa's chin up to look straight into her eyes. "And that person is me."

First there was a void. Then her emotions shredded her heart to bits, bringing on a new onset of tears. Through it all Elsa managed to bend her head down and mutter the phrase "Why? Why me?"

And then Anna took her head, and pressed her forehead against hers, uttering a phrase of her own.

"Because I love you."

Elsa swore to god right there that her heart stopped. _She – she what? She—_

With a somewhat rushed and inexperienced gesture Anna wrapped her arms around Elsa's neck, moved forward, and pressed her hot, soft lips against hers. Elsa's head swooned immediately, her throat emitting a moan in response to her ministrations. She tightened her grip, the lack of air only serving to arouse Elsa more, so she kissed back, her own lips parting to allow her tongue to duel with Anna's; a fight for dominance in a quest for love. In one fell swoop all of the pain, the hurt, the anguish and the fear holed up in her heart was released, her pent up emotion all directed into that single kiss. Her own hands raised to caress Anna's cheek, feeling the soft skin beneath as she dragged Anna over her, now lying upon the sofa. They broke for air, but connected their lips again just for more contact, just for the very fact that they wanted – and needed – to be with each other the way they wanted.

Finally Anna broke away, but placed her forehead upon Elsa's once more. "I love you, Elsa Winchester. And I will never, ever regard you as a failure. Because you mean so much to me."

For just a brief moment Elsa was at a loss for words, her brain unable to comprehend what had just happened. Maybe because it had happened way too fast. Or maybe because she hadn't felt this way for so long. She'd never felt the same emotions for a very, very long time.

She finally felt happy.

So they lay there for a while, Anna lying on Elsa's outstretched body as they reveled in each other's contact and warmth, nuzzling heads against each other. And then Elsa finally mustered the courage to ask:

"What did you get for breakfast?"

Anna grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."


	16. Chapter 16

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 16_

Hans stepped off from the podium in the town hall. He hated the paparazzi; they were a bunch of hellhounds with cameras for flashbangs and they spread news like wildfire. The moment he had concluded his speech the reporters had rushed forward like some nymphomaniacs deprived of sex for an eternity, so he had quickly vanished into the anonymity of the rooms behind. _Stupid buggers; they can't get enough of anything._

But the paparazzi were the least of his problems right now.

Right now he had one broken damn, three separate utilities disrupted, a city full of injured, angry and disgruntled citizens, and one ice-powered vigilante.

He walked down the hidden halls concealed from public view, nodding towards the two bodyguards that stood along the marble lined floors and concrete pillars, the bleak sunlight streaking through the black-grilled windows that cast its gleam upon the UMP45's in the grasp of trained hands. His job was a delicate one, and he was constantly aware of the need for secrecy and security, else things would start to get in his way a lot more easily.

Just like that vigilante.

The day Blizzard had popped up on the grid was problematic to begin with. If already his operations were hard to carry out, she made it a lot harder. She was good, he'd give her that; she knew exactly how to find them, where to find them, and how to deal with them. Hans had become perplexed with solving the issue in the past. He would sit at a desk trying to plan out new contingencies and new backup plans, but nothing seemed to work.

But he wasn't about to give up. He was going to have his revenge.

He would have his revenge.

_Goddamn this bitch._

"How's the shipment going?" he nodded towards his assistant as he got into the waiting limousine in the carpark below, having descended multiple flights of stairs to reach the area. They had made sure to make the carpark almost inaccessible to anyone else; Hans noted that it was probably one of the last few places Blizzard would be unlikely to know about.

"We have a new inbound container coming in from the port in about 24 hours."

"That's good," Hans nodded to his female companion, his face completely blank, masking a hint of satisfaction in a war against a single individual. "Have the shipment sent to the safehouse and let the boys know we've got some goodies. In the meantime, I've got some business to take care of."

"Of course, sir. Where to?"

"Weselton Inc." He would need to consult his friend regarding to progress of Project Nova, a matter in which he had vested a personal interest in. But for now, he couldn't pin all of his hopes on that. If he was going to carry out his grand scheme, then he was going to have to make plans of his own. "Do we still have anything else at our disposal?" He felt the small jolt as the car started up and proceeded down the lane towards the exit.

"We are still scouring the archives for more information regarding the vigilante," his assistant replied, half-preoccupied with the tablet that micro-managed all of Hans' projects and important details. "But in the meantime—"

The phone rang in Hans' pocket. "Excuse me," Hans interjected, drawing the iPhone from his pocket. "Hello?"

"Boss. We have a minor problem. We detected a data incursion in the archives today."

Hans' eyes narrowed. "When did that happen?"

"A day ago. During the mass knockout."

"Trace the detector. Get it fast."

"Yes sir."

_Data incursion… this might just play my way after all._ Hans let a small smile cross his lips. _Finally, a lead. She wasn't that formidable after all. _All he had needed was one mistake, and now he had gotten it. Now he was going to capitalize on this, and stamp out this root of annoyance.

And then, he would get his revenge.

"What happened?" His assistant asked.

Hans merely lay back on in the cushioned seat as the scenery blurred past him. "I think I've got what I need."

* * *

"Hello?"

"Anna?"

"Dad!" Elsa's ears pricked up when she heard that single phrase. She hadn't heard a lot about Anna's family, just that her father worked at Weselton, and her mother had died a few years back from cancer, so Anna told her. Deep down she sympathized with her plight, though Anna seemed to have gotten over the whole issue. She didn't tell Anna that she had tapped into her phone; to be fair, Elsa rationalized, she was trying to make her safe. Even if she felt really bad while doing it.

"Are you okay? I got knocked out by whatever thing that hit the town recently."

"Yeah, I'm good. Shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Elsa tuned out the conversation out of her earpieces that were plugged into her laptop, and went back to a project that she was rushing to complete. It was tough trying to balance her schedule, but she would have to make do. Her whole life had been a delicate balancing act; trying to help out the city while trying not to get expelled for extremely overdue work was becoming harder and harder. She sometimes wondered why she bothered with such an intricate cover, but reminded herself that she'd a duty to keep down this path.

But at the very least, she felt something was… different.

Anna kept her promise in showing her all of her artwork, and Elsa had marveled at what she considered were masterpieces. For her, the detailed sketches and the shading and the colouring were beyond her. She never understood, or at least she was never able to get a grasp. For her, the paintings were a glimpse of what she had missed for the past 19 years, the flourish and the colours that were drowned out by the prevalent whiteness that shrouded her life, her identity. Anna's sketches were innocent; she drew faces, scenery, anything that she had seen across her life as well, or so she had told Elsa. It was almost as if Anna was a slate full of splashes and fine creations merged into something perfect, while herself remained the dull, dirty white that had defined her life thus far. Monotone, grim, and bleak.

Elsa reminded herself again that she had chosen that path.

But something had broken that monotone. She couldn't put her finger on it, but for once her mental state seemed to have more life. For once she had broken the white barrier, as if someone had decided to spill colour onto the slate that she was. Maybe it was Anna. Maybe for once Elsa had finally found something she could believe in. That for once she would no longer be alone.

And oh so good did it feel.

She watched Anna's supple lips move in the motion of which she enunciated her words, enraptured by the smooth skin that trailed down her neck, stopping at the freckles that covered her shoulders. She watched the girl she loved with all of her heart sit at the table, enjoying her own coffee that she made, talking on the phone. Almost embarrassed she forced herself to turn away, back to the screen on which the blocks of black words stared back at her on the document.

Idly she reached across the couch, clutching the handle of the glaive, her other hand navigating her computer's systems to look at **Project Snowflake** again, her thoughts no longer lingering with her bloody past, but playing with a future she could have with Anna. Inwardly she cursed herself, once again reminding herself what a burden she could be, and the danger she could pose to Anna's life. But the other side of her rejected that analysis, compelling her to go further down this path, to love Anna more.

She scrolled through the datafiles, her mind not really bothered about them anymore, her thoughts scrolling back to when she had re-inherited all that had been lost to her, locking herself up in the vast library the mansion had. It was probably all reduced to ashes now, but she remembered that place fondly. It was a time where she had devoured all the information she could receive, not only out of curiosity, but also to prepare herself for the mantle she had imposed upon herself. That all this information would come to use one day.

But beyond the practical aspect of reading she'd found things she'd never understood. Things that dealt with the heart. The mind. Emotions. The things she never truly understood, nor had anyone to guide her about.

She'd read about love. She'd read a lot about love. And even now, she wasn't even sure whether she was truly in love with Anna.

But it sure did feel like it.

She reached the end of the document, then did her standard procedure of scanning for a digital signature.

And stopped dead in her tracks.

**File author: ADMIN – 001**

**File origin: **-[weaseltonInc.]-

_No._

_No._

_It can't be._

This presented an entirely new dilemma for her. She'd already promised Anna that she could work with her on this whole "vigilante business", but nothing had prepared her for this. She ran a double scan, just to make sure. Deep down within her heart Elsa honestly hoped that she was wrong, that her machines had glitched out, that everything that overwhelming pointed in one direction was a terrible, terrible mistake.

But alas, it was not a mistake.

It was Weaselton.

_Keep it together, Elsa…_ Her hands slowly clenched into a ball. In some vague faraway place she heard Anna's voice still going on. _Good. She still doesn't know._

_Because I don't want to hurt her._

She brought up her hacking software again, initializing the startup protocols and bypassing her own security measures. She'd do this. Alone. Without dragging Anna into this. Her screen whited and faded, bringing up the software, already running through all the files of the city. Every computer within a 10 kilometer radius was now being hacked simultaneously.

Elsa felt a tinge of pride, having designed it. Then she refocused, and got back to business.

* * *

"I'm patrolling tonight."

"Why?" Anna whined, playfully pulling Elsa back onto the bed they now shared, pulling her in for another kiss, her warm, hot lips encapsulating Elsa's, eliciting a moan from her throat.

"I have to, Anna. It's my duty."

"You can do it another day."

"Yeah, and then I'll say that the next day, and the next. Eventually I'll just stop this altogether."

"Is that necessarily a bad thing?"

That struck a chord in her heart. She pondered the question as Anna climbed on top of her and kissed her again. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"I've already started," Elsa said as she pressed her forehead against Anna's feeling her warm breath on her cheeks and reveling in that same sensation. "I have an obligation to carry on." She planted a light kiss on Anna's nose and gently pushed her off to get up, tying her hair back into a bun. "I'll come back as soon as I can. I promise."

She heard Anna whine, and a smile crept up her face involuntarily as she donned the white suit and mask. But as she picked up the glaive and prepared to leap out the window, one final line of words reached her ears. "Be safe."

Elsa turned, looking straight into Anna's beautiful intense green eyes, filled with the most heart-aching mix of worry and love. She averted her eyes for just a moment, then looked back at anna. "I will be."

"I promise."

Truth be told, she was lying. She wasn't patrolling, she just wanted to figure out what was going on, deal with the discovery she had made from the file. So as she leapt from the window a pang of guilt slapped her across the face, dragging her whole body down as she latched onto the nearest roof and grappled her way up. _You monster, _she told herself.

_You're a monster._

* * *

Hans was right.

The data was traceable.

He sat in the back of the SUV, pondering his next move as the car cruised along the road. His experts had tracked the signature on the device that had stolen the data, and now he was on his way to find that device.

And with any luck, he'd find the person who took it.

There was generally very little doubt as to who had taken it, given the nature of the information. So as a precaution, he'd taken the liberty of calling in a SWAT van to standby with his vehicle. It wasn't much of a convoy, just his SUV and the van cruising down the road. It wouldn't draw a lot of attention; crime was so rampant thanks to his supplement of weapons that citizens would naturally not suspect the deployment of a SWAT van anymore, simply assuming that some crime was taking place somewhere else, and that they were glad not be involved.

"Stop here," he told his driver, still looking down at his phone. The signal, marked with a blue marker, was here.

Hans pulled open the door to exit the SUV, closing it behind him as he walked forward, two of his personal bodyguards with him. He looked up. It wasn't a building per say, it was half-demolished a surrounded by a construction site barrier. He smiled. It was probably it, given that no one would really suspect a construction site to have a hideout within.

Then again, he wasn't no one. He was Hans.

He ascended the stairs of the construction site, having navigated through rubble and materials before actually reaching the building. His bodyguards followed, UMP-45s at the ready, their eyes scanning out for targets.

But gradually, Hans began to think something was fishy. The higher he ascended the building, the more suspicious he got. It didn't make sense; the scanner showed that the device remained above him, but the further he went he still didn't see anything that would resemble a hideout of any kind.

Then he reached the roof.

The cold, harsh winds of the winter season slapped into him rudely, forcing him to raise his arm to block some of the gales. Snow had begun to fall, limiting his visibility even more. And as the three of them stepped properly onto the open roof Hans spotted something on the floor, something that matched the signal emission detected on his phone.

He walked over to pick it up. It was a mask.

_This is bait._

A whoosh. He whipped around, watching his two bodyguards cry out and fall prey to a white blur that zipped around, finally arriving at his standing point, delivering a powerful jab to his stomach, forcing him to drop to his knees, gagging. The phone was whipped from his grasp and slammed to the floor, splintering into pieces that flew across the concrete, and the figure finally came to a stop in front of him.

"Governor Hans," he heard through ringing ears. "Well, this is a most unpleasant surprise."

* * *

**Sorry for the hiatus; I'd lost my momentum on writing this story, and went to work on a side project which I've also uploaded to the site, in case you feel compelled to know. Regardless, thank you so much for reading this despite the hiatus; it means a lot to me that you continue to read my work :)**


	17. Chapter 17

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 17_

"Well, well well," Hans said, rubbing his jaw as he pushed himself back to his feet upon the roof, the wind howling past his ears as he confronted his adversary, his eyes nervously setting on the glaive that Blizzard spun confidently between her hand. "The great Blizzard shows herself."

"Oh don't flatter me, Governor Hans. You had very different things to say about me to the citizens of this town." Hans kicked himself internally as he heard those words.

He needed to stall for time, so that his SWAT team would come looking. His hand shifted nervously into his pockets as he reached for his iPhone. "Don't even think about hit," he heard, along with two brisk steps forward, the whoosh of the glaive spinning stopping entirely as Blizzard raised it, poised to throw. "I wouldn't want to have to knock you off the building."

"Your snowflake there doesn't look like the most threatening of things." Hans remained calm. He still had a backup plan.

"You underestimate the power of the snowstorm, Governor."

"If it were that great, my dear girl, I wouldn't be here. I've controlled this city for so long you couldn't do anything about it even if you tried."

"You're a cocky one."

"I can afford to be." In a swift movement Hans spun, his hand reaching behind his belt to retrieve the pistol concealed by his long jacket, completing the spin to bring the gun up to bear. But Blizzard wasn't in front of him; he couldn't see her. A sharp pain through his spine answered his question as a sharp edge slammed into the back of his hand, knocking the gun out of his grasp while he felt his feet swept out from under him. He slammed into the ground, hard, grunting as he did so, almost feeling something pressed against his neck as Blizzard forcefully straddled him, pinning him to the ground and poising the edge of the glaive just above his Adam's apple. "As a matter of fact, Hans," she spat out, "I don't think you can."

"Why 'Hans' now?"

"You don't deserve the title of governor."

"Oh please, I helped to sustain this pl—" Hans was cut off by Blizzard slamming the glaive into his temple and he cried out in pain. His brain compelled him to make the scream louder in an attempt to rouse the SWAT team beneath the building, but a gloved hand silenced him, gripping down on his neck in a deadly clasp.

"I know about the SWAT team beneath the building. They won't be bothering us for a while."

"You… monster," he choked out. "Those people… have families. Unlike… you."

"Oh don't worry," Blizzard replied as she gave him a wry smile. "I didn't kill them, if you were afraid of that. I don't kill people to get what I want. For you however, I might make an exception."

The grip got tighter. Hans sputtered. "What… do you… want?"

"Information." Blizzard drew a smartphone from her pocket. "You conceded you know I don't have a family."

Realization hit Hans like a truck. "That's right, Hans. You do realize now." He watched silently as the glaive above his neck began to encase itself in a layer of transparent ice that glowed ever so eerily with a blue hue. "I know you know about Project Snowflake."

"So?"

"I want to know everything about it."

Hans felt a coldness begin to creep up his arm. Alarmed, he turned his head, in time to notice that his hand was now also encased in ice, anchoring him to the ground. _No, wait. My arms and legs._

_Shit._

"What do you need to know?"

"Thank you for your cooperation." Blizzard raised the glaive fractionally from his neck, and Hans noticed the efficiency in the way she raised the glaive at a small angle. He started noticing ridiculous things about her: the way she moved her arm, the way those muscles flexed and toned, the way her hair blew in the cold wind that bit at his cheeks.

_What the fuck, Hans?_

"First off," Blizzard said as she slapped him back to reality, literally, "why is this a Weaselton registered project?"

* * *

This was the part that she realized she wasn't going to like listening to, if her suspicions were, indeed, anywhere near accurate. Some part of her hoped she was desperately and foolishly mistaken, but some part of her suspecting she was right on target.

"What do you mean 'Why is this a Weaselton registered project'?" Hans replied, glaring at her defiantly, "it just is. Was, commissioned by Weaselton."

"Explain yourself."

"You were an embryo conceived by our top scientists who happened to be married," Hans spat out. "It was… taken from them. Without their knowledge."

_I might just have compromised myself, emotionally first, where he'll take advantage of that. And then I'll compromise myself physically. I need to remain focused._ She refused to let the uncertainty show through her eyes, allowing her fear to manifest in another layer of frost that covered the glaive, striking the fear into Hans instead. "I didn't give you the permission to stop."

"Okay, okay! We, had just found some, groundbreaking research on the link between natural and supernatural planes. Of which we were able to identify genes that possessed, shall we say, magical potency, and gave the bearer powers beyond this natural plane."

Her eyes narrowed, as she tightened the grip around his neck. "You mean there are more like me?"

"Throughout history… there have been… records of people like you. Ancient… Norwegian legend tells of a queen… who froze over an entire region, having… shut herself away to protect her sister… and it's not just ice that these genes have links with."

She relaxed her grip. "What else is there?"

"German folklore tells of a girl with strange, golden hair that possessed a restorative power, and Scottish fairytales speak of an archer with skills far beyond any normal human could ever possess through training. There are ancient drawings on a cave in various locations strewn across the world that tell of the same man that can turn into a bear, or cursed with such a power. We thought we'd found the start of those links."

"What happened to the research?"

At this point Hans shut up. Elsa sighed, and planted a boot upon Han's arm, causing to scream out loud as the hard plated boot began to crush the bones in his hand. "There's plenty of time for me to hurt you; I've got all night. I won't ask again."

"Alright! Alright! We – ugghhh – attempted to recreate or clone these subjects when we identified the genes to do so."

_What in god's name?_ "What do you mean by 'attempted'?"

"They're – gahh – housed in one of our facilities."

_They're… making more… people? Reviving dead people?_ The information took Elsa like a harsh punch to her gut: _I'm a dead, long gone person brought out of time? Is this who I am?_ She couldn't, absolutely downright refused—

The anger boiled within her as she pressed down harder onto his arm, eliciting another scream. "What happened," she spat out, letting her rage flow through her words, "to my parents."

"We… attempted… to silence them…"

"Under whose directive?"

Hans grunted as he refused to answer again. Elsa pressed down further as she yelled, "UNDER WHOSE DIRECTIVE?"

"My… father's," Hans choked out, "with the… cooperation of… Doctor… Alex Trayden…"

Abruptly Elsa removed her foot and stood back on the ground, planting both feet firm in an attempt to keep her balance after the last line of words sent her world spinning in a dark pit of depth and despair, leaving Hans on the ground writhing in pain. For a moment she blocked everything out, the sights, the sounds, even the strong wind grasping at her combat suit and screaming in her ears as she focused solely on the very fact that confronted her.

She'd been right. Her worst fears were true.

_Anna's_ father had ordered the execution of hers.

As did Hans' father, of course, the previous governor of Arendelle, who had died in an _unfortunate car accident,_ as Elsa preferred to think. "Now you know," came Hans' weak voice. "Now you know who to avenge."

"Yes. Yes, I do."

"As do I." Elsa turned, just in time to dodge out of the way of Hans' swing, who had somehow recovered and was now wielding a rather deadly sword in his hands. "You recognize this sword, do you not?" he roared, Elsa sensing the rage behind his voice. "Huh? Answer me! ANSWER ME!"

His father's sword. Inscribed with his name, the hilt patterned and engraved with his family's coat of arms. The blade gleamed in the moonlight that barely shone through the now growing snowstorm. Of course Elsa remembered. How could she forget? Not after what she'd done. Hunting down that corrupt official, confronting the convoy on the desolate outskirts of the city, seizing the gun out of his hands and gunning down everyone there – of course Elsa remembered.

She was the one who'd murdered everyone there.

But she wasn't about to grace Hans with an answer. Not after what she'd just found. Not after what they'd done.

She'd stop them.

The lunge came, an offensive tactic that Elsa recognized, fully aware that she was fighting a trained adversary who'd spent years growing up as a sword fighter. But then again, so did she. Her mind threw out a simulation in her head as her hand moved downwards, swinging the glaive to deflect the blow, her eyes narrowing as she processed her possible courses of action. She knew this fighting style, and she knew how Hans could transition into another seamlessly; her mind saw his moves even before they began. But she knew there were too many ways for Hans to fight, and he could only use one.

Her work was cut out for her.

Elsa lunged forward, slamming the whole glaive into Hans, having deflected his blade harmlessly aside. Hans staggered back, and Elsa took advantage of his disorientation, delivering one well-aimed roundhouse kick to his gut, knocking him to the ground. She seized the initiative, pressing her attack by stomping down onto where his arm was, but Hans had recovered by then, rolling out of the way to pick up his sword, swinging the blade at her neck.

With a dull thud her lightweight glaive's edges caught the sword in between its snowflake spokes, allowing Elsa leverage over Hans and an opportunity to manipulate his momentum. She took it, yanking the sword in an outward motion in an attempt to disarm Hans, but failed. She took comfort in how Hans was dragged along in his sword, her left hand swinging to fill in the space cleared by her right, clasping Hans by the neck once again, forcing him to choke. Her right arm raised and plummeted, devastatingly slamming the glaive onto Hans' spine. As he grunted his guard dropped and his back tensed, exposing his front. Elsa suddenly jabbed upwards with her left knee into his gut once, twice, three times, before outstretching her leg fully to push Hans to the ground, watching him gasp desperately from air amidst the pain that was surely exploding and tearing him apart from all sides.

"I do remember that." Elsa walked over to the sword, bending over to retrieve it, the metal scraping lightly against the concrete. She eyed the sword, admiring the design, and the effort that must have had gone into producing it.

"I'll never forget."

Then abruptly she lifted her right thigh, and slammed the sword down upon it, breaking the blade into two, tossing aside the now broken pieces, smaller fragments of the metal landing upon the roof with small clinks.

She didn't grace Hans with a glance at his face, with she assumed was mixed with despair and fury, simply delivering one kick towards his head to knock him out. Elsa decided she wouldn't bother if he suffered from hypothermia in the morning, simply ruffling through his pockets and retrieved his phone. _They're always useful._

Her thoughts hit a sudden stop as she felt the adrenaline drain from her.

_Did I just—_

_Oh god._

She glanced back at the broken pieces of the sword that lay on the roof, rocking in the strong winds that ravaged the roof.

And then she fired the grapple and swung away.

* * *

Kristoff yawned after the knocking on the door woke him up.

_Goddamit. Who the fuck comes along at 3 am in the morning?_ He pushed himself off his mattress in his one room flat that he'd moved to recently, moving past the mini-fridge, the stove and the wooden table to reach the light switch. The glare hit his eyes upon contact, and he winced.

_There's only one person who's sane to go anywhere at 3 am, and that's because she's doing something legit,_ he thought, as he pulled open the door.

It was Blizzard.

Fully-dressed, combat suit and all.

"The heck you doing here?" Kristoff tried not to let the annoyance show through in his voice, cocking one eyebrow.

"I… need some advice." The girl removed the mask, and Kristoff saw how she looked like for the first time. Platinum blonde, piercing blue eyes, flawless complexion. Damn.

"O… kay? Come in, I guess," he said as he stepped aside, allowing the much smaller girl to move through. "You know," he remarked as Blizzard set down the glaive upon his table, "you still haven't told me your name, even after contacting me and whatnot."

"It's Elsa." She took the liberty of pulling out his only wooden chair and sitting down on it. "Elsa Winchester." Kristoff noted the way she sat, strangely refined for someone who roamed the streets beating the crap out of people who were causing trouble. He didn't quite get it, but he wasn't about to pry. Maybe not yet.

"So… what do you need to talk about?" He moved over and sat back down on his bed, covering his face with a hand as he yawned.

"Anna's father ordered some guys to kill my parents."

His yawn cut off halfway. "Wait. What in the name of holy fuck—"

"It happened a long time ago. When I was a kid." He watched as Elsa buried her face in her hands momentarily before swinging her head back up again. "My parents worked with her parents, and well, they discovered something, and they were killed because of it."

"Would you be able to tell me what they found, or would you have to kill me?"

Kristoff realized he'd hit off a wrong nerve within the vigilante as he saw her face darken visibly, and she turned away. He supposed it was better than a manifestation of rage targeted at him; that could go a lot worse. "I don't kill people," Elsa said, curtly, though he thought he heard a tinge of uncertainty in that voice.

"O… kay?"

"And it's a long story." Elsa drew up a phone from her pocket and flipped open the screen. "A very long story."

"And you came here why?"

"To ask for advice." Abruptly she shut off the phone and turned to look Kristoff straight in the eyes. "What the hell am I supposed to tell Anna?"

There was silence for a while between them, the only sound permeating being the low droning of the low-quality light that Kristoff had managed to get at a spare parts shop. He himself was confounded by the dilemma that Elsa presented before him, partly due to its complicated nature, partly because he also didn't want to hurt Anna, someone he'd known for a very long time.

He remembered schooling with Anna. And while he hadn't heard much of her father, he knew Anna personally, ever since they'd met as classmates and stuck together for a long time. Heck, they'd even dated for a while before they decided they weren't really meant for each other, but remained best friends ever since.

And Kristoff most certainly couldn't bear to hurt Anna.

But then again…

"She deserves to know."

"So what would you have me say then?" asked Elsa. "Oh hey, your father's some criminal that ordered my parents to be murdered and now I'm gonna take him down? Goddammit, she fucking kissed me yesterday and said she loved me." Elsa bent her head down and bumped it gently on the table's wooden surface. "I don't want to hurt her."

"That was fast," Kristoff remarked, "I didn't think she'd tell you that soon."

"Can we get back to the topic please?"

"Fine, fine…" he said, trailing off into thought. "In fact, you might honestly have to tell her what you're really going to do about it."

"I know that, but it'll sound like I have a vendetta."

"Don't you?"

Dammit, he'd hit a wrong nerve again. Elsa turned away, her eyes now shimmering with tears. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said—"

"It's okay," she cut in. "I just – I don't know. Maybe I do."

She looked back up at him, her eyes now taking on a reddish tinge. "But that's wrong, isn't it?"

"I'd think it's a natural response. I mean, considering the circumstances…"

"I started doing this whole vigilante thing to protect people. But as I keep doing it I keep losing track of what I started out to do. Now I, I don't know if I'm beating the crap out of people in rage." Uncertainly she looked down at her hands. "I beat the crap out of Hans today."

"Hans? Wait. You mean, GOVERNOR HANS?"

"His father also got my parents killed and well, let's say I returned the favour, so Hans attempted to do the same upon me."

"Wha—?"

"I felt good beating Hans up," she said, her voice wavering. "I'm just scared I'm turning into some kinda… monster."

Kristoff unintentionally let her words hang in the air; he just didn't know what to say for a short while. Then after a brief moment passed he said, "Regardless what you think you're doing, I think your actions are noble."

"I'm not noble."

"Give yourself some credit. You go out of your way to protect these people, and you don't ask for anything in return."

"That's my duty."

"You took it upon yourself, remember?" He sighed as he went on, "It's kinda like how I decided to become an officer. I just, you know, wanted to protect people, and make sure they don't get hurt. Just that even the police body started hurting people.

"The point is, you're willing to do these things for people. And it's perfectly natural for your feelings to get in the way, and for you to make mistakes, and what not. Just…" he paused, "don't lose sight of why you're doing this."

"I'm scared I will."

"I have faith you won't."

"You barely even know me."

"It's called faith for a reason. The trust part comes later." He shook his head. "Now I'm quoting _Man of Steel._" That got a laugh out of Elsa. "But frankly," he continued, "you've done more than enough to earn our trust."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Trust me. And trust yourself, for that matter."

This time he deliberately let those words hang in the air, to let them sink in. It was the least he could do, he realized, for someone who was willing to put so much on the line for them.

"So… how should I break the news to Anna?"

"I think you'll have to figure that one out yourself. But if you need help, I can talk to Anna, if you want."

"Okay. But I'll tell her first. I guess."

"Sure."

He watched silently as the vigilante got up and retrieved her glaive, opening the door and letting herself out, but just before she closed it she turned around, taking one last glance at him, and said, "Thank you."

"Least I could do," he replied.

Then the door closed, and he got up, shut off the light, and went back to sleep.

* * *

**I am so sorry this took so long, but if you are reading this, thank you so much for bothering to read something that's gone dark for so long. It means a lot to me :)**


	18. Chapter 18

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 18_

War.

It had started a long time ago, its effects merely manifesting later. Much later.

But she knew where it'd begun, and she knew it was probably her fault.

It'd been three years since then, but in three years, a lot had changed. To her it wasn't surprising anymore, she'd seen so many people come and go, alive and dead, that change was merely part of a much larger cycle that carried on destroying their lives altogether. She was just lucky that she was one of the few at the top. And for her, only one truth, one unchanging fact was all that was left resonating in her mind, refusing to let go.

Arendelle was no more.

Anna had remembered how it began. How could she forget? Not after the person you loved told you that your father had murdered her parents, that they were experimenting on humans, that he was supporting the crime in the city. To her, the world had turned upside down, and in response, she shut herself off from the truth, cutting away her ties, burning her bridges, and rejecting the fact that was confronting her in the face.

She should have trusted those words.

But she didn't.

In the end her naivety and her denial cost her not just her livelihood, but the lives of many others caught in the crossfire.

Arendelle was no more.

Perhaps, somewhere deep down, she had trusted those words, when she called her father and asked what the hell was going on. Then they'd decided to make their move. Whatever they'd been preparing worked; local resistance was overwhelmed, and international intervention was repelled equally easily. For three long and bloody months the fighting raged within the city, repelling not just the attacks from the international forces, but quelling whatever resistance that the local populace had gathered. They hadn't bothered with a death toll, merely set up a totalitarian control, and clamped down hard on the city with an iron fist.

She only knew one person who could have done something.

But that person was gone.

The only sign that Anna showed that she wanted her back was a note that she'd left on her apartment, hidden away from view, in the only secret place that they both knew about, before Hans had escorted her away. It wasn't just Anna that wanted her back, she knew everyone needed her back, to fight for what she should have fought for, to redeem what she could no longer attempt to redeem. She was condemned to a life without redemption, to suffer in the walls that she had set up herself.

Her life was no more.

Arendelle was no more.

But perhaps most painful of all, Blizzard, and Elsa, was no more.

* * *

It was like the cold had gotten worse these three years.

She hated it.

Against her father's wishes and Hans' orders (for she knew none of them would dare lay a finger on her) she'd gone out with a sniper rifle as scout duty along the walls that they'd somehow been able to build within a matter of days. But it wasn't the walls keeping the invaders out, it was their weaponry and their soldiers, genetically enhanced beyond international ethical regulations. The walls were there for another reason: keeping everybody in.

She'd gone through the plan with her father and Hans countless of times; they'd bide their time to raise an army, brainwash enough people, and then move on towards the neighbouring countries in pursuit of conquest. Why were they doing this? To feed their own bottomless pit of ambition that she'd never understand. As she walked along the concrete walls brushing the snow from her suit she felt a familiar pain stab through her heart, a reminder of the void that she could no longer fill.

_This is your fault._

But everything Anna was doing right now would, in one way or another, honor her lover, her long lost friend. There was no point in rebelling against her father's schemes; she couldn't bring herself to do that yet, but she knew she no longer loved him. But the things she could do were subtle, like the sniper rifle rounds she carried, as she found out from the schematics, was named .243 _Winchester _rounds. Or when she took a walk in the city streets, she'd grab a can of white spray paint, find a dull concrete wall with empty space, and just spray the shape of the glaive she'd been so familiar with three years ago.

It was the only thing she could do nowadays. Find some way to keep the hope alive.

But for who? The people?

Or herself?

Anna adjusted the scope on the rifle as she positioned herself along her designated location along the wall, setting up the bipod along the battlements, a feature she found really wonky in this day and age. The scope had frosted over, so she wiped it off with her gloved hand, before looking through it to check. _Clear._ She brushed strays wisps of her red hair behind her ears as she looked through, carrying out her usual routine of sweeping the area outside the walls the fortified the city of what used to be Arendelle, looking out for anything unusual.

"_What did I ever do to you?"_

"_Please Anna, just bear with me—"_

"_I don't know why you're doing this, and I don't want to know. Get out of here. Now."_

"_Anna, please—"_

"_GET OUT!"_

The sounds of their last conversation cut into her thoughts. Anna hadn't expected it to hurt that much, so she was caught unawares when the pain hit her again. Three years had done nothing to ease that pain; Anna threw a hand to her heart and clutched at thin air, as if it would soothe the ache that was killing her. It wasn't an ache. It was a void. A burden. Something Elsa would have been familiar with, but she shouldered that pain instead.

She condemned them all, with nothing short of a miracle being able to save them. And she didn't believe in miracles anymore.

Not after she turned away the only one that happened to her.

_This is my fault. All of this is my fault._

* * *

For her, the one thing that hadn't changed about that city was the climate. It still worked the way it used to; the winters were as frigid as ever, and the snow came down in drifts like they used to three years ago.

But she continued to marvel at how blind she'd be. How she hadn't seen all this coming. How she hadn't seen through the cover up one way or another. She didn't want to know how much bribery and corruption had been able to cordon off Arendelle and turn it into a self-sustaining nation, despite international sanctions, the threat of invasion, and citizens who clearly knew what the hell was going on inside of there.

She blamed herself. Possibly more than she should have.

Elsa fired her grapple, the hook latching on to the parapet, the mechanism engaging to pull her up. As she ascended the wall she planted a motion sensor along its side, concealed by its greyish appearance, nearly undetectable. She reached the top of the wall, swinging to the top in one swift motion, her glaive lashing out to slam into the guard that had stood directly above her, his screams quieted by her other arm gripping his neck, grabbing his prone form as she jumped off the other side, landing in the soft snow below. Her grip tightened, and he blacked out.

Her motion sensor indicated no sudden movement in response. _Good._ She was in.

She made these trips frequently. Just to recon. Just to see what had happened inside the city after she'd left. No one really knew she came along nowadays; their lives were governed by something else far worse for them to start worrying about a figure that had been snooping around over three years ago. Elsa adjusted her mask to fit on her face more comfortably, made sure her hood was down, and carried on walking. Amidst the background of the snow she would be almost invisible, save for a sharp eye looking out for footprints, but no one was sharp during the winter. Three years couldn't really change that in humans, she knew how the guards worked too well.

But Elsa soon realized she didn't quite know where she wanted to go. She'd gone to a lot of places in the city: her old university, the now desolate Starbucks outlet that she'd first formally met Anna, Kristoff's house before everything had spiraled downhill.

_Wait. My own apartment._

She hadn't gone back since. It was her fear; she didn't know how she'd react upon going back there, revisiting the place where she'd been rejected from, in more ways than one. She couldn't blame Anna for how she'd reacted, she couldn't blame her circumstances, because that was how things turned out most of the time. In the end, she found some way to blame herself.

Better than being angry over nothing.

Elsa took a short walk along the empty streets. Everyone would be at home now, trying to keep out of sight of the soldiers, trying to keep warm. Her feet kicked away small pebbles that rested on the streetwalk, her mind reasoning that the soldiers would probably find the citizens anyways, given how genetically enhanced they were. She'd been in a fight with those soldiers.

She almost didn't come out alive.

What had saved her were her own inborn enhancements, improved reflexes and human endurance and even then she'd been removed from activity for the longest period so far. Gingerly Elsa took off the mask and hit it within her outfit, now that she'd already blended into the civilian populace, reducing the attention drawn to herself.

She reached the door of the apartment, the same one from three years ago, the same place she had resided in as cover, the same place where she'd met Anna.

And she'd only ruined things, since then.

Gently she eased open the door. The wood creaked at the touch, having rotted from disrepair and age. Everything was unkept and covered with cobwebs and dust, the dim moonlight streaming through. Somehow, she felt just a little bit colder.

Elsa ascended the same, familiar stairway that she'd seen those years back, feeling the wooden handle-rail underneath her gloved hand, brushing away the layer of dust that had settled upon it, hearing her footsteps creak the woodboards beneath, treading in the near darkness that her eyes had accustomed to seeing. She hadn't forgotten the place, not one bit. She'd made it a point to burn every single detail into the back of her head when she'd left those years ago.

She wasn't quite sure why she kept coming back; perhaps it was to remind herself that she was the cause of all this. Perhaps it was because she couldn't get herself to forget Anna, no matter what she did. Like it or not, she was a part of her, a part of her past, unchangeable and rigid.

Sometimes she regretted it. Other times she moved on.

But Anna was different.

Their sofa was still there. She'd shared her first kiss with Anna on it, and then within 24 hours Anna had gone from loving her to hating her. But she couldn't get it out of her head: the warmth of her lips, the intimacy of the touch, the rapid beating of her heart and the swooning of her head. As painful as it was that memory was far too precious for her to let go, but the memory had faded over those three years.

She remembered the advertising campaign for the old Call of Duty Ghosts game: _we keep forgetting the things we want to remember, and we keep remembering the things we want to forget._ Something along those lines.

How apt.

The sofa was her old hiding place for all her gear; fond memories frozen in time, things she'd never get back. She lifted the seat covers, almost in a half-desperate attempt to feel what she once felt again, even though her heart told her it was not to be, no longer.

She frowned.

She didn't remember leaving a piece of paper behind when she left, and no one but Anna and her knew of this spot. If someone had found the spot, that could mean something bad... Hesitantly she picked up the note to read. It wasn't anything bad.

Just Anna.

_I don't know if you'll ever see this note, Elsa._

_But I hope that one day, you'll find yourself remembering the things we shared together, and come back once in a while, to the place where we spent our time. There's a saying that goes "here's to the nights we never remember, spent with the friends we never forget." You were more than just a friend to me, and I know you know I'll never forget you._

_This is my fault. I chose not to believe you, I chose to set off this chain of events. Now everyone is suffering, and its my fault. I no longer have any power to change anything here; my father is taking me into his care away from the citizens, and Hans will be here soon to see that through, to bring me to those quarters. I know this city has done nothing to deserve you and the help and salvation you bring, but now we need it more than ever. I shoulder the blame for this, me alone, but this has nothing to do with the others that suffer because of me. Save them. You can settle the score with me later._

_I still love you, Elsa Winchester. And I know I have no right to, I don't deserve to, but I do. I need your help one last time, and I won't bother you ever again._

_I promise._

_Your little snowflake, Anna._

She watched as a tear splashed upon the now browning paper.

She hadn't told Anna she'd returned once and a while, but after reading it, she was glad she didn't. If she was really with her father now, then all the more she couldn't contact her.

But Anna still loved her.

Another year spilled onto the letter. Then another. And another.

It must have hurt, Elsa realised. For someone so innocent to bear the burden of thinking she'd caused all of this. It wasn't Anna's fault, and maybe, just maybe, it wasn't Elsa's either.

And she realised that she'd always been loved. No matter how much she'd failed, or how much she blamed herself, Anna had always loved her. Deep down inside, her void of love was finally filled, completed once more, and she found something she hadn't felt in a very long time.

Hope.

* * *

She had improved her gear over those three years, but had never expected it to come in handy.

"Freeze!" she heard behind her, the sound guns clicking reaching her ears. _What an ironic term._

Her glaive hung upon her back, but her face was exposed. She couldn't reveal it, not yet at least. She couldn't turn around.

"Put your hands in the air, and turn around slowly."

Screw this – if she was going to get back in the fight, she'd have to come out eventually; might as well be now. She had to do it. For the people.

For Anna.

That removed all her hesitation.

She refused to comply. Her raised hands squeezed shut, materialising two ice shields, her body whipping to crouch beneath them, reaching for her mask as bullets clattered harmlessly above. She donned the mask, and swung her hands forward, slamming the shields into the two guards, knocking them out.

_They must have seen me come in. Very well. I'm back, bitches._

Elsa drew her glaive as she ran down the stairs, the blades slowly frosting over with a sharp layer of transparent ice, her determination hardening like steel. She fired the grapple as she ran, latching onto the rooftops to fling her upwards. Her suit's auto-hack protocols kicked in, bringing up the radio chatter of the soldiers now running toward her location.

"All units, this is Gamemaster. Subject Blizzard spotted at coordinates 2-2-5-V. Secure and neutralise the target. Deadly force is authorised." As if in cue her mind tingled, compelling her to reactive jump and spin, barely dodging a sniper round that would have otherwise penetrated her lower torso. A bead of cold sweat trickled down her face as she worked her magic, reweaving her icy nano-fiber over her body.

_You won't get me. I'm doing this for them._

_I'm doing this for her._

* * *

"All units, this is Gamemaster. Subject Blizzard spotted at coordinates 2-2-5-V. Secure and neutralise the target. Deadly force is authorised."

_No._

_That's – not possible..._

Anna slung the rifle over her shoulder as she broke into a run, allowing the suit helmet to close down upon her, the HUD marking out Blizzard's location.

Elsa's location.

The waypoint was like her beacon of hope lighted again. And in that small instant, she knew exactly what she needed to do. She broke into a run.

"I'm coming, Elsa!" she said out loud, as if an anchor had been lifted from her chest. "Hold on!"

* * *

There were too many.

Frantically Elsa fired off another ice bolt as the scattered but numerous soldiers advanced on her from all sides, catching one of them in the chest and knocking him off the building. The wall was about 160 metres away now; she had to hold off until then. A round chipped away at her nano-fiber, then another, and another. She didn't have time to reweave it, simply fired off ice bolts into their directions, taking out her assailants.

But more were coming.

Elsa disengaged her glaive and flung it, slamming into another soldier's chin, flinging him into his comrades charging from behind. She couldn't keep this up much longer; she had to get to the wall. A beep caught her attention as her protocols issued a warning: sniper rifle warning. 5 red targets popped up on the mask's peripheral vision as with her motion-sensor minimap, tagging the snipers' location. _Shit._ She heard the iconic popping of the rifles, and raised her arms defensively, forming thick ice shields to surround her body. _Crack!_ Each thick sheet shattered into splinters, slicing across her nano-fiber into her skin as they flew past.

_I am not dying out here like this—!_

More ice shields formed, now materializing involuntarily as her frantic mind struggled to keep up, deflecting the ammunition flung towards her with deadly force. She planted her left foot on the roof and pushed to jump, leaping over another rooftop gap to land on the next, barely landing on her two feet as she kept up the sprint. All of these soldiers were genetically enhanced – every single one of them brainwashed by the regime here. And they were all going to kill her.

_Why is one sniper moving so fast? Snipers don't move that fast—_

She watched as that particular sniper withdrew her weapon, flinging it sideways in a swing, slamming into the other four and knocking them back, withdrawing her stun gun and firing 4 quick shots, neutralizing the dispatched snipers. _What the—?_

"Alpha Team? What the hell is going on down there?" she heard yelling through the COM system. "Alpha-4! Status report!" As Elsa slammed the glaive into another soldier and narrowly dodged two more diving for her, she risked a hasty glance at her mysterious savior as she disengaged her helmet and threw it off.

She recognized those features. The flowing red hair. The unforgettable and cute freckles. The rosy cheeks. The way her face looked when she was determined to get something done.

_Anna._

_But why—_ Her mind shut out her thinking, and a sense of déjà vu washed over her as she continued her run, remembering when she had first begun to feel. It was a great release; the ultimate liberation. Now was just like it. She remembered the tugging of her heart strings, the other presence affecting her rationality, compelling her to run faster, fight harder, all so she was safe. Anna would be safe.

She missed it.

And she also remembered the horror of watching Anna be in imminent danger as she heard through the radio, "All units, Alpha-4 has gone rogue. Apprehend with necessary force", and a group of soldiers raising their stun guns as they stood upon the rooftops, aiming towards Anna.

_Not today._

Elsa released a trio of icy blasts, crashing into the group of soldiers, but encasing them in solid ice mid-fall. It was a miracle she was still alive at this point; the rush on her nerves was draining, and she wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer. Dashing towards Anna's location, she reattached the glaive to her back, and yelled two words with every ounce of warning she could put into them: "GET DOWN!"

Anna dived towards the floor as Elsa swung, outstretching both her arms to let fly a flurry of ice bolts, spinning in a circle as the deadly blasts lashed out on their oncoming opposition. The lucky ones had the bolts struck their bodies, encasing their beings in solid ice. The unlikely ones had the bolts strike their heads, freezing solid and knocking them out. One maelstrom of icy magic later the bodies strewn across the rooftops outnumbered the forces below them attempting to shoot them down.

She watched Anna push herself to her feet. "Elsa, I—"

Elsa silenced her words by clamping her gloved hand over her mouth, pulling her close with her other hand, and pushing off towards their left, sending them tumbling over the edge of the wall.

* * *

**I am so, so sorry for the lack of update; I lost my drive, and I went on to experiment with other AUs and storylines, even reading through a few novels to get back on track. Sorry if the change in pace is too radical, but I felt this seemed right, and kinda wanna explore this. Nonetheless, if you are reading this, thank you for bothering to look at this despite my severe lack of punctuality It means more to me than you know :)**


	19. Chapter 19

Blizzard

Chapter 19

They called her by many names by now. Hans remembered the original one: Blizzard. But gradually as the years had worn by and her actions continued she was known as more than that. Some called her as simply the Vigilante. The more hopeful called her Harbinger of Hope. The troops uttered the word "Icewrath" in trepidation and fear.

But for him, he had no words to describe her. For him, she was a figure hidden in the whiteness of the snow, posing a threat towards his effectiveness and psychological control. For him, she was a threat. One that needed to be taken care of.

But ever since three years ago he hadn't been the same man.

Hans had thought it was a passing phase of infatuation. Evidently, he was wrong. The figure of her continued to pop back into his head long after the moment was long past: in his sleep, in his dreams, in his waking moments. He recognized the problem it posed to his capabilities, and wanted to get rid of it, but at the same time he didn't want to erase all memories of her. He half-enjoyed it all.

At least he had his betrothed. To whom he was promised. Anna. Daughter of Trayden.

He had had her. Until now.

The report of another incursion by Blizzard came in within a few minutes of spotting her. But by the time he had exited the main command post in Arendelle and set his eyes on the desolate cold landscape of the mountains at 12.07 am, they had already lost sight of the vigilante. Additional reports indicated that a certain individual had defected with Blizzard. A certain "Alpha-4" from Alpha squad. The lone soldier that had brought him the soldier's exact identity was unlucky enough to feel the wrath of Hans.

He yanked back the bolt of the sniper rifle with a vengeance and slammed it back forward with an equal amount of anger, feeling an insatiable urge to empty the magazine into the night sky, but that would be unwise. That would get the NATO forces outside Arendelle suspicious about the quality of their leadership, and he was worried that whatever move he made, they would exploit it somehow. He wasn't about to let that happen. Not after he'd put in so much effort.

Trayden was not going to be pleased.

He'd sent that lone soldier off to report the exact same news to Trayden. It was cruel on his part, but he could care less. A lot less. Right now his main concern was to eliminate the renewed threat, and get everything back in order. And only one name came to his mind when he thought of people sharing the same fire for vengeance against a certain girl clad in white.

He picked up the radio lying on the table of the command post, pulling his jacket closer to him amidst the frigid weather. "Command?"

"Yes sir?"

"Send Petersburg up to my command post."

* * *

As they fell Elsa swung her hands, enwrapping Anna's body in a temporary mesh of icy nano-fiber, then clenched her fists shut as they hit the soft snow below. The force slammed their heads forward, just as the icy hexagon weave shifted, bending the light above them. They disappeared from the visible spectrum of light as they pushed themselves to their feet, Elsa raising her palms towards the top of the wall just in case. The soldiers ran to the edge of the wall, pointing their rifles straight at them, then swiftly walked off.

The ruse worked.

"Phew." She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, turning towards Anna. "We should be good—"

Anna tackled Elsa into the soft, cold snow, ripping away her mask and pressing her warm lips on hers. Elsa's eyes rolled back before her eyelids closed, her hands moving involuntarily to cup Anna's head, ruffling through her hair as their kiss intensified, igniting a part of her she hadn't felt in three agonizing long years of yearning and denial. She pushed back a stray curl of Anna's red hair as their broke the kiss for air, before pulling Anna's lips back to her own again.

They lay there for quite a while, out of sight from the rest of the world. Just the two of them to themselves, for once.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Elsa asked, idly, wishing that moment would never end.

She watched as Anna hung her head in shame. "For driving you away."

It's not your fault. Elsa gave a weak smile and ruffled her hair. "If it were me under those circumstances, I wouldn't have reacted any different."

"But all of this is my fault. If I hadn't done it," Anna said, a glistening tear rolling down her cheek, "you wouldn't have gone on hiatus, and Operation Recall would never have succeeded."

A pang of guilt shot through Elsa. Operation Recall. It was the one thing she wished she could never think of again. But that was not to be; after all, she'd allowed it to happen. She'd sat back and done nothing. "That was my fault. Not yours."

"But—"

Gently she placed a gloved hand over Anna's mouth. "That's enough. No more blame game. We still have a long ways to trek."

A quizzical look covered Anna's features, and Elsa watched on with amusement as she pushed herself to her feet again, outstretching a hand to pull Anna up. "Trekking? To where?"

"My operations headquarters."

"I wasn't aware you had one."

"I didn't. Until Operation Recall."

* * *

Operation Recall.

The one operation she had failed to intercept, and stop three years ago.

The time she had found that warehouse, and had run away because she suspected something was off? Outrunning an armoured transport? That warehouse had been full of the weapons necessary to take over an entire city. Then when she had found it, they had evidently popped off the sleeping gas to distract her attention while they continued their preparations.

Even when the operation commenced, there were various points in which she could have intervened. Various transports of important resources had shown up on the city database she had hacked, along with suspiciously large quantities of self-defense weaponry and ammunition. All of those had been key, but hadn't done anything.

But after the entire operation she realized there had been one important aspect she could have stopped: Project Nova, the supersoldier program that Alex Trayden, Anna's father, had been carrying out. A spin off of her original program that augmented her, the experiment allowed soldiers to gain superhuman powers, but the chemical shipments had been hugely vulnerable to her infiltration. She could have stopped those easily.

And why didn't she?

Because of her own personal needs.

Because Anna had rejected her.

And then everything had spun out of control. Project Nova had been overwhelming, far too powerful for her to take on alone. The one time she had attempted to defeat an army of their supersoldiers, something she could have easily done with her bulletproof defenses and icy powers against normal soldiers, she'd almost been ripped to shreds. Little could be said about the various NATO squads that were sent to curb the threat. By force, walls were erected around Arendelle's perimeter, keeping in the citizens and keeping out the invaders. And then everything had come along to this point. 3 long years of occupation, 3 long years of suffering.

Elsa trudged through the snow, Anna following close behind. Her own mind pondered those events: I could have stopped this. I could have prevented all of this.

Well I suppose there's no time for self-pity now.

After that life-threatening incident she had gone through a self-rehabilitation cycle, re-evaluating her priorities and capabilities. Eventually she came to two conclusions: the first was that she needed to buck up on combat, and the second was that Anna was important. Far too important.

She hadn't regretted those two choices. And by now she'd about fulfilled those two priorities. She'd re-evaluated her combat priorities, spending her free time redeveloping her technology and weaponry, and training her powers to become more combat orientated, but not lethally. And now, she'd gotten Anna back.

Now to her third priority. Getting back my hometown.

But in before she could do that she would need a plan. Again. This time her opponents were more coordinated and more capable. She couldn't do this alone. All the more she couldn't get Anna to join the fight.

Atop the mountain ridges Elsa outstretched her hands again, swinging her palms to form an icy, imperfect path along the steep impasse. The wind howled in their ears as the ice crackled and hardened, widening in width. "Careful. I don't know how well I made this."

"Could be worse," Anna said, taking a tentative step on the transparent icy walkway. Minor creaking, but nothing else. Elsa shifted uncomfortably, looking uneasily at her own creations; one error and she could send her lover tumbling to her death, and it would truly be her fault this time.

She caught her thoughts midway. Lover?! She blushed, her red face hidden by the white mask she wore. "Be careful." With a flourish the makeshift ice bridge morphed into an exquisite bridge, intricate designs decorating the barriers on either side, the originally uneven surface turning smooth and semi-transparent. Now it was a proper walkway, and definitely safe. As a precaution Elsa strengthened the walkway with an extra sheet of thick ice.

"Wow," she heard Anna say.

She shrugged. "It's nothing."

"What do you mean this is nothing?" Anna walked upon the bridge surface, did a tiny spin and looked up into the night sky. "It's amazing!" She let out a joyous scream that reverberated off the mountain cliffs, the wonderful sound music to Elsa's ears, and Elsa couldn't help smile a little as well. "This is so beautiful!" Anna repeated in that same melodic tune.

You're beautiful, Elsa thought to herself.

* * *

Elsa had to keep forming the ice path until they arrived on more traversable ground. By then she was exhausted; the continued usage of her powers and the stress of making sure they were safe had drained a lot of energy out of her. But at least they were safe. For now.

Upon treading onto the solid rock covered in snow she collapsed to her knees, her breathing ragged and irregular, her vision already becoming affected. She hadn't been trained to use her ice powers for that long, and that was taking its toll. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the dizzy spell as Anna rushed over and tried to help her up. "You okay?" she heard through ringing ears.

"Yeah, I should be good." Elsa forced her blue eyes open once more, focusing only on the sight before them, the sight that Anna had not noticed yet. It was only when Anna noticed her staring continuously in one direction did she finally look up as well.

"Is… is that—?"

"Yeah," Elsa forced out through ragged breaths with a wry grin, "That is my operations headquarters, and it's exactly what you think it is."

Even at 2 am in the morning the full moon shone brightly, casting a gleaming glow upon the silvery surface of the castle of ice. Elsa had been impressed when she had first built it; she had not been sure how far her powers could go with that prospect, but she certainly hadn't disappointed herself. Even more evidently, the look on Anna's face told Elsa she wasn't disappointed either, and a wave of pride washed over her. Well, at least it's nice to know I've done something well.

"Oh. My god."

Elsa noted Anna would have started squealing if not for the rapidly thinning air in the atmosphere around them. Hastily she pushed herself to her feet, taking out the mask and placing it over Anna's face. "Atmosphere… is thin…" she said as she activated the breathing apparatus in the mask. "We… need to… hurry…" The look of alarm on Anna's face gave her all the assurance she needed that her message was clear.

* * *

The redhead opened the wide castle doors. Elsa would have said "Merida" in greeting, but she was out of breath. "She needs air," Anna explained, half supporting and half dragging Elsa back into the castle. Merida nodded and ran back into the interior.

She blinked the blur back from her pupils, forcing herself to focus. Wearily she reached behind her back and retrieved the glaive, twirling it idly as she leaned against the icy wall. "I'd show you your room," she said as she turned to Anna, whose breath was also somewhat irregular, "but we have no spare one. One's taken up by Merida, whom you've already met." Elsa slid slowly to the floor, coughing, still attempting to get her oxygen levels back to normal. "The other one's taken by Rapunzel, and I'm in no condition to expand my headquarters right now. If you want—" and this was where she had to pause to reconsider what she was really saying, before carrying on "—we can share my room. There's only one bed, so I'll sleep on the floor."

"I can't do that," Anna protested, "that's not being nice!"

"Unless you want to shar—"

Merida came running in with the blonde-haired girl, Rapunzel, who was carrying her breathing apparatus. They practically slid across the floor, Rapunzel shifting her hands to cup the mask over Elsa's head, giving her a fresh breath of oxygen. Elsa inhaled, feeling the life giving gas coursing through her veins, her head clearing from the hazy state it was in before. She was glad she hadn't finished her statement, but from the look in Anna's eyes, she was pretty sure she got the message.

"Merida, Rapunzel, this is Anna. She's a friend of mine, and she's here to… help." Elsa couldn't help become hesitant at saying those words: I can't put her back into all the crap I've created! I'm trying to take down her father, goddammit!

But Anna didn't seem to notice, instead giving a vibrant smile to the other two girls. Rapunzel gave a small smile back, while Merida arched an eyebrow and looked at Anna cautiously. Dammit, I knew this was going to be awkward.

"Where you going to stay?" Rapunzel asked. Shit. "She's—"

"I'm sharing Elsa's room," Anna blurted out. Elsa covered her face in shame as Merida and Rapunzel burst out into hysterical laughter. Anna evidently didn't get the joke: "What? What'd I say?"

Elsa sighed as the laughter continued, taking Anna's hand and pulling her away. "Come on, I'll show you the room."

* * *

They ended up sharing the bed.

Anna snuggled up to Elsa, resting her head along Elsa's collarbone, just within reach of Elsa's hands. She was grateful for the opportunity, burying her palms in Anna's red hair, kissing her scalp every once in a while, listening to the soft sighs that she elicited from Anna's mouth. Some absolutely absurd part of her urged her to go one step further, but her discipline restrained the animalistic side of her brain. For now, they lay back on the soft mattress, looking out the window and at the full moon.

"Who are they?"

"Hmm?"

"Rapunzel and Merida."

"Oh."

Elsa gave Anna a brief run through of what had happened on the roof the night before she had told everything to her three years ago. Then her narrative changed.

"After I recovered I decided I couldn't keep idling around. I tracked down the illegal shipments of chemicals and apparatus back to facilities in China. Original incursions proved fruitless, until I found more records that directed me to the actual holding facility. They'd only revived Merida and Rapunzel, so I got them out of there. They had been cooped up for so long they'd lost all semblance of human mental capacity that I had to teach them language and behavior for quite some time, before their combat skills returned to them."

She felt Anna's breath tickle the curve of her breasts through her nightshirt, and shuddered. Not now, Elsa. Some other time.

"After that I returned to Arendelle and set up everything to continue my 'war' against them. Ever since I've returned to hacking and developing my abilities; I read up on the original 'me' that I was revived from, and ascertained her capabilities. Beyond that, nothing else was significant."

There was a silence between them for a small moment, then Anna spoke up. "I've missed you."

Elsa didn't need to respond, just simply pressed her lips upon Anna's. The kiss was tender and loving, and they didn't have to rush. For now, they just wanted each other once more. When they finally broke the air Anna asked, "Why were Merida and Rapunzel laughing just now?"

The tips of Elsa's ears turned red; she couldn't see it, but she swore they did. "Erm…"

"Was it something to do with me?"

Elsa paused uncomfortably, watching a small smile turn into a grin on Anna's face. "Did you tell them about me prior to this?" she asked, probing further.

"…maybe?"

Anna giggled. "What did you tell them?"

"…my…fantasises… about you…"

Elsa squeezed her eyes shut from embarrassment as Anna let out a hearty laugh, flipping Elsa over and pinning her to the bed, kissing her passionately again. "I wouldn't mine fulfilling some of those, if you don't mind divulging them to me?"

The full impact of those words hit Elsa a full 5 seconds later as Anna grinned above her, and her mouth hung wide open. Anna, evidently, took it as an opportunity to kiss her again. They had to break it after a while; Elsa was running out of air to breathe, again. "Well?"

Elsa coughed once, gave Anna a naughty smile and a strange glint in her eye that she herself did not understand, and replied, "I think I could handle that."


	20. Chapter 20

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 20_

Elsa awoke to a soft breeze on her cheek. Unusual for their altitude, but she'd seen stranger things. She rose to a sitting position, leaning back against the ice bedpost, looking at the other serene form on her bed. She watched Anna's divine features as she lay motionless in sleep. The way the gentle sunlight illuminated her cheekbones, the shadows casting themselves across her face. Elsa reached out with a hand, brushing a stray strand of red hair behind Anna's ear, and as an afterthought, planted a soft kiss upon her forehead.

She rose and dressed. She'd waited for that moment, that night, to come along for so long. The past hours had been spent writhing in pleasure on top of each other, savouring each and every second with Anna, finally together again. Ironic, that it should come under such circumstances, and for each and every waking moment of her life to be painfully aware that Elsa would not be able to guarantee that peace and happiness. It would eventually come to one last, dreadful moment where everything would go downhill again.

But what was she to expect? There was no way she could ever maintain any form of equilibrium, not as who she was. She served the greater good, in which she herself had no part of. If there was one thing she had learned, it was that she was never going to get her personal feelings involved. Ever. Again. Elsa had to make sure she didn't compromise her goals once more.

_But why?_ A nagging voice in her head pounded on her mind's door as she exited her room, her bluish designer gown's transparent fabric trailing behind her as she descended the stairs towards her own control center. _Why exclude her from you ultimate conclusion? Why banish her to her own misery and despair, as you do to yourself? Why do you torture both of you?_

Elsa banished the thoughts from her mind as she arrived in front of her consoles. Merida and Rapunzel weren't up yet, so it was silent in her fortress of solitude. A time for her to consolidate and prepare.

A time for her to daydream about Anna—

That was odd. About three years ago, she'd banish those thoughts from her mind as well. But now, all she wanted was to protect Anna. That her presence constituted a large part of why Elsa kept fighting for her cause. If taking this new regime down meant that Anna could be safe and return to a normal life, then well, Elsa would gladly do it, no matter the cost. She monitored the screens on her control panel, silently, allowing her mind to wander to more important, or more pleasurable thoughts, the latter greatly preferred. There would be no shortage of those, not after last night. Elsa allowed herself a small smile.

Then she frowned.

She placed one tentative hand on the console in front of her. The sensors had picked up a disturbance along the nearby snowy ground. Multiple signatures. All carrying some form of metal within the heat signatures that marked out their arms. Only guns would explain such a scenario; they were hunting for something. Hunting for her.

There was no rest for her, simply the relentless onslaught of people. How many more did she have to hurt? Her road sometimes seemed endless, with no comfort in sight, no resolution to be found. How then could she carry on. And more importantly, how would she know when too stop?

Both possibilities were equally terrifying.

_Now is not the time for doubt_, she chided herself. _If I must meet this threat, so be it._ She donned the combat suit, rewove the ice-weave around her figure, and trod down the icy, translucent steps of her "palace". With a single hand she eased open the doors onto the snowy landscape, closing it gently behind her, fitting her white mask back onto her head. The wind was gentle, but it had begun to pick up. If she was going to find those people and get back alive, she'd have to do it fast.

* * *

Petersburg kicked aside a lump of snow that had accumulated on the side of the mountain ridge. The men were probably cursing at him right now; he acknowledged that this mission wasn't easy, and already the onslaught of poor weather the previous night and impassable terrain, coupled with having to trod through knee deep snow was taking its toll on them.

His men might have been tired, but he wasn't. He hungered on. Finally, a chance for revenge. The thought had never left his mind the moment they'd pulled him out of the frozen deluge of water 3 years ago, and through quivering limbs and a broken mind he hungered solely for revenge. He would break Blizzard. He would find her, and destroy what was left of her world, and then, then he would take pleasure in what he intended to do to her.

So first, he would have to find her. Petersburg hefted the rifle in his hands, wiping away the frosted glass of his reflex sight as he continued trudging through the snow, the sounds of his complaining soldiers drowned out by the wind that had just begun to pick up.

"Sir? How much further do we have to go?" he heard a voice being raised behind him.

Petersburg sighed. As much as he wanted revenge, he also knew the value of energy and spirit. He might have leapt at the chance to be physically enhanced, as did the rest of his soldiers, but even then they all had limits, and pushing them tended to be bad on missions such as this. He needed not just the morale to complete this task, but also the physical energy to do so. "Not much. We'll return to base camp soon. Keep pushing for now."

"…yes sir." He noted the evident disappointment in the soldier's voice. _To hell with that. Carry on._

Movement. A swift blur darted past them at the very end of his peripheral vision. He whipped around, perturbed and tense, eyes narrowing as they darted from side to side. _An animal, perhaps? But it seemed far too human…_ "Ready up boys," he said, flicking the safety off the assault rifle. "I don't think we're alone out here."

"You're getting kinda too tense, boss," a soldier replied, smiling idiotically at him. Petersburg felt a great urge to punch him off the mountain, to watch him tumble down the cliffs below, but he kept his cool. "And why is that?"

"Come on, boss, relax a little," the soldier continued, the ridiculous grin still on his face. "There's ten of us here, and all of us got our bonus strength and speed, if y'know what I mean. There's no way some funky—"

* * *

Elsa slammed the glaive into the back of the soldier's head. _Serves him right for trashtalking._ Wordlessly she lashed out in a spin with her leg, catching a nearby soldier in the head and knocking him out as well. _2 down, 8 to go. I'll need all the advantage I can get._ But already she was exposed; the remaining soldiers cried out with surprise but steeled determination, already scrambling to raise their rifles. She had no time. Ducking to the ground and pushing herself forward in the same motion Elsa barely dodged the first hail of deadly lead as she crashed into another soldier, evading his deadly grasp and wrapping her arms around his neck.

She pushed herself into a standing position, carrying the soldier in front of her. The others pointed their rifles uncertainly at her. "Fools!" she heard a familiar voice yell. "Just shoot! Kill her!" _Petersburg._ She thought she'd rid herself of him, but evidently she was wrong. All the more stalling for time would be her demise.

Elsa delivered a swift and painful knee jab into the spine of her hostage, lashing out at the next soldier even before the cry of pain had fully escaped the man's vocal chords. She spun the glaive, scraping the blades past her next victim's face, buying her a few precious seconds to counter an incoming punch; that was a good sign. It meant her other adversaries were too scared to fire upon their comrades. All the better for her; she would need all the space she could get right now. Her elbow slammed down upon her adversary's outstretched hand, then quickly jabbing outwards into his face.

Elsa released her vice-like grip and returned to her original victim, lashing out with a flurry of punches distributed across his face and torso. Her eyes darted around as she released her victim, finding herself flanked by the remaining five soldiers, Petersburg's snarling face visible despite the snow that had begun to blow across the landscape, obscuring her vision a little. Her mask would shield her from the minor annoyances, but too much snow would only prove fatal, and there was only so much she could do with her ice powers. Her opponents had whipped out metal, gleaming blades that glinted in the light of the weak sun, their guns hanging loosely from their belts.

"Give up, you piece of shit," she heard the taunt loosely from one ear, the rest of her mind too preoccupied playing out possible scenarios and counter-attacks. "You'll never get out alive."

"That's what you think." Elsa spun her body, legs outstretched for a distraction, firing her grapple at Petersburg's gun, ripping it from his belt and pulling him forward. The man lurched forth, arms flailing in a vain attempt to maintain balance; Elsa's knee shot up into his chin, knocking his head upwards, then caught the rifle in her hands and slammed the butt down hard upon the back of his head. It was unlikely to take him out, but it would disorientate him.

And now she had a gun.

Her opponents started backing away ever so slowly, but she caught that subtle movement too. Up came her glaive in a wide throw, its trajectory arcing around her combatants but swinging back to catch the furthest one in the back of his head. She leapt forward, catching by the handle, utilizing the momentum to continue a swing, slamming the spokes of the snowflake into the gut of another soldier. His breath ejected from his windpipe, Elsa reversed her swing and her hand, catching a knife blade with the spokes and twisted, disarming her combatant and injuring his wrist; he'd been too tense with the weapon, as most of her combatants were.

She was left with two people, who finally had the sense to double team her, and they edged around her cautiously, in an attempt to flank her, sheaving their knives after seeing what she had just done to her comrade. Elsa had been lucky this fight; an experienced task force would have given her a lot more trouble, but her combatants thus far had not been that skilled. Flanking was an option that was viable against her, given her fighting style, and she knew that. That gave her the advantage of preparation.

Elsa noticed the subtle signals they attempted to pull off to surprise her, quickly deciphering what their communication attempted to convey, so she bided her time, replacing the glaive on the magnetic pads on her suit's back, hearing the click as it finally rested. The bait worked; thinking she had been distracted, the two soldiers lunged, but Elsa countered, sidestepping backwards and lashing out with both of her arms at the same time, catching both soldiers in the face, ducking to avoid the swings that continued despite the unconscious state of her adversaries.

The sound of two prone corpses hitting the snow beneath her brought her back to her senses, quieting the raging fury that had filled her soul moments before. The sound of her breathing finally reached her eardrums, the white puffs of breath crystallizing before her and dissipating as quickly as they had appeared.

_Wait, aren't I forgetting something—_

Something hit her, hard, in the neck. She was lucky it was a lower blow; her neck had pads for protection, and the force would have knocked her out if it had hit her head instead. The blow sent her crashing into the snow beneath her, blowing through a few feet of it before she came to a rest. An agonizing pain that originated from the point of contact rippled through her, into her brain and down her spine. _Goddamn enhancements—_

A burly hand grabbed her by the neck and hoisted her into the air, showing her a good view of Petersburg full size. Still caught in the stranglehold and gasping for air, her now bloodshot sapphire eyes stared right back at Petersburg's.

"Look into my eyes when I stare at you," Petersburg growled into her face. "What do you see?"

"A… de…. De…"

"I'm sorry," Petersburg grinned evilly, mocking Elsa as he tightened the grip. "I can't quite hear you…"

"A downright… fool…"

Elsa's still free hands swung to point straight at Petersburg's exposed face, feeling her power course through her veins, exiting her palms in a focused and potent blast. Petersburg yelled in surprise, his grip loosening on her neck. Elsa grabbed onto his outstretched arm and kicked outwards into his torso, freeing herself from his grip and putting some distance between the two. Flipping back onto her feet she drew the glaive, subconsciously hissing in hostility as Petersburg shook the ice off his face.

"Pathetic whelp," he said, drawing a long combat staff from his back. "You fight without honor and fairness; you exploit every advantage you get."

"Unfortunately, I don't have an obligation to engage you in what you term to be honorable combat," Elsa spat in response, feeling her own rage fill her again, rage that was not animalistic but backed by passion and conviction; she would stop this threat, and anything that would hinder her progress for the greater good, anything that would harm Anna. "Like it or not, I'm taking you down."

_Combat staff. Not too hard to manipulate; his style will focus on wearing me down._ Her body tensed in response as her eyes watched Petersburg twirl the alloy staff with one hand, deducing the weight of the weapon and the speed of the staff. Her heart thudded ever so gently against her chest as her arms stiffened as she assumed a defensive stance, waiting for Petersburg to make the first move. She felt the wind's energy flow past her, her mind reaching out to the ice around her, drawing upon them for renewed strength and vigour. She watched Petersburg's anger flow through every stroke, studying his strategy, planning her exploits and tactics, preparing herself to fight off a new threat.

Petersburg stopped twirling the staff.

They stood in a silent standoff, the wind howling at the time where it would have otherwise been silent.

Then he roared in anger, and struck, straight outwards towards Elsa's head. Her arm came up with the glaive, pushing the staff upwards, the sound of alloy scraping upon alloy ignored entirely by her brain as she took advantage of her adversary's disorientation and closed the distance, dealing blows to Petersburg's torso once, twice, then spun and kicked him aside before the staff could come back down to deal any real damage to her. She swung her hand, aiming and firing her grapple, the hook latching on to Petersburg's body armor, yanking him back with the same momentum, dealing a crippling blow to his face.

Her superhuman mind's pervasiveness into her physical combat was still evident; she could sense Petersburg's anger getting all the more evident. That meant he would get careless, but if she got careless herself she would be in a lot, a lot of trouble.

She watched him push himself to his feet, charging straight on at her, whirling the staff. Weapon slammed upon weapon, the shocks jarring Elsa's arms with every blow. She'd fought off multiple adversaries with the advantage of superior speed and quick takedowns, but this was her real challenge. And as much as she reveled in a challenge, things could have come at more favourable conditions. Petersburg's swings came fast and quick, and after a while Elsa had found herself using her gauntlets directly to ward off the blows meant for her head. She was playing into his scheme, and she knew it.

And if she didn't break this deadlock in time Petersburg might even win. In spite of her superior and focused training she found herself actually contemplating defeat.

_No._

_Not today. _

_I will not let that happen._

She watched another swing come by, feigning a dodge, then lunging into the path of the blow. Petersburg fell for the dodge, and redirected his momentum, letting Elsa close the distance harmlessly, a maelstrom of potent icy magic glowing from her free palm, slamming the glowing bright light straight into Petersburg's chest. An explosion of ice crystallized upon his upper body armor, Petersburg himself grunting half in pain, half in surprise as he found himself flying into a pile of snow below.

_Upon this day I hereby swear—_

With a single stroke of her palm the snow cleared, exposing the much harder rock beneath. Petersburg's form crashed into the jagged surface. Without waiting for a bodily reaction Elsa lunged with the glaive, its spokes trailing icy potency. Then she let fly her weapon, the spinning spokes taking on a life of their own, slamming into Petersburg and spraying frost in all directions.

Petersburg finally roared in pain, attempting to rise, yet found himself constrained for some reason. He snapped out of his reverie of madness to look at his limbs; frozen in solid blocks of ice.

"Familiar?" Elsa was surprised at her own taunting tone as she uttered those words. "Seems that things have come full circle again, huh?"

"Your arrogance will be your downfall."

"As your rage has been yours." The wind started to pick up. Considerably. Elsa knelt in front of Petersburg's snarling form, staring at him, not quite sure what expression she was putting on her own face. The feeling scared her.

"I will get you," her ears picked up, her mind sieving through the pain, rage and bitterness those words carried. "And I will break you. I will take pleasure in doing that to you. And then, then we will see who is more smug."

Elsa was no doubt convinced that she was not invincible, and she took the threat very seriously. She'd made a powerful enemy that had spent 3 years biding with rage and anger, plotting revenge, and when the day of her fall from grace came she knew it would not be pleasant.

But at the very least, it would not be today.

The ice on the blocks that constrained Petersburg's limbs began to creep up towards his head. Her enhanced hearing sense picked up a quickening in breathing. It wasn't her.

"Sad, isn't it? To be caught back where you were 3 years ago?"

The ice reached Petersburg's mouth before he could respond, and she stopped the freezing just before the ice covered his ears.

"I don't kill people, else I would have done it a long time ago. But remember, if I can do this once, I can certainly do this again. Think twice before you decide to come after me. I am by nature fair, and do not partake in violence gently.

"But I am also human.

"And humans are very prone to go against their very nature."

On that ominous tone her hands swept upwards once more, the ice finally encasing Petersburg in a full, transparent cuboid. With a whistle the snow beneath it rippled, slowly but surely sending the block moving along, down the soft bed of snow back towards the city in which he had come from, the walls barely visible from her perch upon the mountain ridge, their flickering and dim lights casting an ominous presence even from a distance.

Then she picked up the glaive, refitted in back on her suit, and departed her scene of carnage. She hit a few buttons on her handheld console, programming her UAVs to pick up the corpses and send an anonymous air drop back into the city. No doubt she'd draw anti-aircraft fire and cause for worry, but it was unlikely she could be traced; her ghost protocol would see to that. She wasn't about to let them die; yes, not even people like Petersburg deserved death.

Not even people like Hans.

Or Anna's father, for that matter.

Did they—?

Confused, and hit with a new wave of uncertainty, Elsa trudged through the white snow that had already begun to thicken, snowflakes floating down around her, an appropriate backdrop for the emotions that now clouded her mind.


	21. Chapter 21

_Blizzard_

_Chapter 21_

Something wasn't quite right with her.

She'd already felt it with the wave of uneasiness that had overcome her after her fight. And now, halfway back to her hideout, her body could already tell something was going wrong. Terribly wrong.

It was only then she realized there was a pressing, and numbing pain in her side. Elsa pressed a hand to her head, looking down at her right torso, spying a tiny cut upon her combat fiber, the area now oozing red. _So, something's got me—_

A wave of grogginess swept over her. _Some kind of… neutralizing agent…_ She must have gotten hit in the fight without knowing it. She should have been prepared and should have expected it; it was ironic that just as Petersburg was frozen was once, she would fall prey again to another sleeping agent. And if it really was as potent as she expected it to be, then she didn't have much time left.

Frantically she tapped a few buttons on the mini console attached to her left forearm, activating a distress beacon on her suit. If they got it, they'd know where to find her, as long as no one else found her first. Her next concern was if what was now in her bloodstream turned out be more potent and lethal than a simple sleeping agent.

That could really pose a serious problem. There might not even be enough time to hook her up to her stasis chamber.

She kept pushing on, running a bodily diagnostics scan as she trudged through the thick snow, the blizzard around her increasing in intensity, in correspondence with her own fear and trepidation. Perhaps the part that really scared her was that she was beginning to feel cold. It almost never bothered her, no matter how low the temperature, and the fact that she was able to feel it again indicated something was going terribly wrong.

Her feet started weakening. _Shit._ The suit's diagnostics scan on her bodice completed, identifying the agent that was already spread throughout her bloodstream. She felt a sharp prick as the suit drew a blood sample from her arm, already beginning an analysis even as the feet of its user gave way, and collapsed upon a heap of snow.

The last thought she had before her world faded to darkness was that of Anna.

* * *

Anna awoke.

How long had the bed been so cold? And by that, how long had Elsa been gone—

_Gone?_ Almost in a panic she flipped the blankets off her, finding the bed all to herself. It was a mistake; the day had already gotten significantly colder, and she wasn't wearing anything…

"Anna?" At the sound of her name she yelped, swiftly grabbing the covers and wrapping them around her nude form, her eyes fearfully watching Rapunzel step into the room. "Oh," the blonde continued, "I'm… so sorry… for the intrusion… I just thought—"

"Where's Elsa?" Anna blurted out, unable to contain herself. _Dammit Anna, you probably just let the cat out of the bag—_

"I don't know. Neither does Merida. She's been gone all morning."

A moment of silence passed between them before Rapunzel went on. "Never mind. Merida made breakfast. Doesn't seem very fitting for people out of their time but we've learned how to make breakfast, yes, in case you're wondering – never mind, I'm rambling. Just – come and eat." Just like that, Rapunzel disappeared as quickly as she had come.

Anna let the covers drop to her waist once she was assured of her privacy, exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. _Last night…_ the cries and screams of pleasure came reverberating off the walls of her head, and her face visibly reddened. _Elsa must be off fighting some other people again._ She slid off the cool mattress, picked up the clothing that had been hastily cast aside last night and redressed, exiting the room with what seemed to be a spring in her step. Funny, she hadn't felt that way for a long time, at least for 3 years.

The corridor was cool. Very cool. But she chided herself for expecting anything else; they were at the top of a mountain range, and in a palace of ice. Amused, she let out a soft laugh.

_I… haven't heard myself laugh. For a long time._ The realization hit her like a brick, her heart gripped at by a new sinking feeling. _3 full years…_

"Something's coming up on the radar," she heard Merida's somewhat urgent tone. She cocked an eyebrow as she picked up the pace, walking down towards their control center. "Rapunzel? Anna?" she heard the voice call again.

"What is it?" she heard Rapunzel say as she properly entered the control room.

"It's Elsa. She doesn't look too good. Scanners picked up her suit signature about 5 minutes ago. Might want to check on her and see if everything's right."

"What's so special about that?"

"It's a distress signal."

Her heart stopped. "Where is she?"

Merida's fingers flew over her console, her eyes scanning the screens. "She's not too far out from here, but something's definitely wrong, according to her suit." A pause. "She's out cold."

"What?" Now Anna was getting scared again. "She's knocked out?"

"Not sure how. But what's more worrying is that her core body temperature is dropping; the cold isn't normally supposed to affect her."

_Oh no._ "Where's her suit 2?"

Merida arched a quizzical eyebrow. "What?"

"She had a suit that fit me. I'm going out there."

"You need the rest," Rapunzel interjected. "We can handle this—"

"Where is it?" Anna demanded, the panic now evident in her voice. "I need to find her!"

There was a moment of silence as Rapunzel and Merida exchanged glances. Then Merida spoke up. "We'll get it for you."

* * *

A familiar whiteness shrouded her, engulfing her surroundings and obscuring her vision. Somewhere, sometime, she'd been here. In the haze of something that was affecting her, though she couldn't quite remember what, Elsa was having trouble discerning not just her senses, but her own memories.

_What is this place?_

_Why am I here?_

_Where was I before?_

Flashes of memory swung past her; a terrifying explosion of a car wreck, the cracking of ice on a pavement, the spinning of a white glaive, the smile of a red-haired girl…

A wave of nausea hit her, and her body plummeted forwards. Her reflexes kicked in; she crumpled to one knee, one hand planted upon the icy cool surface of whatever the hell she was standing on, her hand reaching behind her back instinctively to attempt to retrieve something that was bugging her in the back of her head, but she could not locate now.

_Where's the…_

_The…_

…_glaive…_

"_Elsa._"

Her head spun. _That voice…_ She knew she'd heard it before, but where? Through the mist, a figure began to materialize, a figure that struck awe and wonder within Elsa, but also a small sense of trauma, stemming from the day that—

—_my mother died._

Her eyes seemed to fly open from the daze she'd been overcome with seconds before, memories flooding back into her: her affinity with ice, her vigilantism, her meeting with the love of her life. Her mind flew into a panic: _Shit! Where am I? I need to get back to them, they're not safe, not after what happened—_

"_Elsa."_

With the scully of her palms the figure cleared the mist. It was her mother. Again. Elsa had had this vision three years ago, when she'd been knocked out by a citywide sleeping agent. A reminder and testament that she was not infallible, and that as powerful as she was she still failed to perform miracles.

"Mom."

For a moment they just stood there, her mother still in the same long trenchcoat and jeans Elsa had seen before she was engulfed by the flames, her own figure still clad in her combat suit, glaive slot and gadget holders empty, her hand freed from the burden of the grapple device.

"I don't know what to say," Elsa finally blurted out.

"_Then don't,"_ came the serene reply.

"Why are you here?" Elsa asked.

Her mother's apparition wavered ever so slightly as she sighed, her breath coming out as crystals. _Was it cold? I can't ever tell._

"_Because you're afraid."_

Something stirred within Elsa's heart. _Is that what I'm feeling? Fear?_ "Wha – what?"

"_You're afraid to do what's right."_

Elsa closed her eyes and grit her teeth. "I – I guess…"

"_Why?"_

"How am I not supposed to be afraid?" she blurted out suddenly, regretting her outburst only a moment later and toning down from then on. "I've already failed so many times. I can't stop them, not a whole army full of people designed to kill me, to evoke fear within the hearts of people I cannot possibly hope to save."

"_Why didn't that stop you before?"_

"Because I was actually able to do something! For the past three years I've—"

"_No Elsa, you've stopped because you've lost something before."_

She realized that an indentation of a snowflake had embedded itself at its feet, the fractals spiraling from where she stood. "But I—"

"_It's because of Anna."_

Her heart skipped a beat.

"_You've lost her once, Elsa. And you don't want to lose her again."_

Now she was on the verge of tears. Of course she didn't want to lose her again. Not after what they had shared, even if it was for a short while. Anna just had a way with her that she couldn't resist. She loved every second she spent with her, in conflict or in love, and there was no way she was giving her up. In a sense, her mother was right, but there also came a sense of hopelessness and self-pity, a feeling that she would never be able to lead a normal life, a feeling that she should have never gone down this path, a feeling that all she had ever done was make things worse—

"_Do you know what the difference between a rookie and a veteran is?"_

Elsa kept silent, but shook her head.

"_The veteran's been hurt more times than the rookie has ever taken a risk."_

The ground beneath her shuddered. Her mother's apparition wavered again. Through the tears that now welled up in her cheek she felt a familiar weigh materialize upon her back. She reached behind to grab it. It was the glaive.

"_This is more than just your weapon, Elsa,"_ her mother said as she held the glaive up._ "This is a symbol. Of hope, of justice, of fighting the battles that no one ever could." _The edges of the glaive flared with icy potency, vapor trails flying with the wind that suddenly blew in from their left. Instinctively Elsa shielded herself with the glaive, and her mother's apparition merely wavered once more. _"You've always been a beacon for them, Elsa."_

"I'm only human, Mom."

"_I know. That's why your endeavor was so great." _Somewhere in the distance a bolt of lightning struck, accompanied with the thunder that normally came with it. Her very being began to emanate a bluish aura that drifted with the gales that blew past as Elsa struggled to keep her footing. A weakness began to overcome her again, and she collapsed to her knees once more, slamming the spoke of the glaive into the ground to prevent being blown away.

"_Don't give up. They need you. I know you need yourself too, to a certain extent. But you must protect those who cannot protect themselves. We're behind you, Elsa. Even if you don't see it. As are others, who will be behind you too."_

The sigil beneath her glowed a bright blue as Elsa clenched her eyes shut, her glaive embedded firmly into the floor beneath as her mother's apparition wavered violently and dissipated. Her vision was engulfed with a bright blue glow; she felt her icy power course through her veins with a potency and intensity she had never felt before, and her head raised towards the heavens in defiance of her fate, in defiance of her adversity.

And then everything blacked out again.

To her horror, the next thing she heard was the whirring of a jet engine.

* * *

Anna flew across the snow covered landscape, the suit having deployed enhanced snowshoes to assist her in walking. Her mask obscured her face, the interior's HUD having placed a waypoint on Elsa's location. She drew the staff, joining the two ends together to assist in her frantic movement towards the marked location, her breath gradually coming out raggedly, the suit's internal heating systems doing nothing to ease the cold that slowly crept up her heart.

She was still nowhere close. Anna attempted to quicken her pace, but the snow around her had already begun to pick up, covering the landscape with even more snow, hindering her progress. It was only after she had stopped to catch her breath, still a short distance from Elsa's location did she finally hear the whirring. It wasn't the normal whirring of a helicopter. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she quickened her pace, failing to recognize the sound.

Then the hoverjet loomed over the cliff, suddenly appearing from what seemed to have been beneath her, a glaring spotlight illuminating her figure and blinding her eyes.

She heard another, much more dangerous whirring sound. _No, no, no, not again—_ Frantically, Anna dived out of the way of the deadly hail of lead that lashed out towards her. Her suit's warning systems screamed an alert into her ears as the minigun mounted on the jet continued to spit out rounds, the engines whirring ever louder as the craft pursued her. The enhanced exoskeleton gave Anna's body a minor boost and minimal protection, but she knew for sure that if she stopped for a split second she would be ripped to shreds.

_Elsa? Elsa?_

She spied the prone form lying upon the snow, barely visible amongst the white background, the HUD highlighting her figure with a red outline. _I have to get to her, otherwise—_

The first round connected with her body, gashing through her leg, causing her to drop to the floor, crying out in pain. More rounds rained down nearby, and the hail of lead changed direction towards her. A stray second round caught her in the shoulder, eliciting another gasp of agony.

_Is this it?_ _Is this how I… end?_

A shield of ice burst in front of her eyes; rounds clattered harmlessly off its surface despite the minor cracks that appeared, the ice thickening amidst the pounding it was receiving. To her right, through wisps of snow that swirled furiously around her, Elsa's figure knelt, one arm still held upwards to maintain the shield that protected her bodice.

_How—_

The deadly hail of lead swiveled towards Elsa; her arm moved to ward off the bullets, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as another shield formed before her, sparks flying as rounds ricocheted off. Her face was a mask of exhaustion and agony, her hand faltering every now and then, her ragged breath crystalizing irregularly before her. Even from her position Anna was helpless, and no matter what Elsa was going to pull off, it wasn't going to save them.

This was it.

"…charge…" Anna heard a crackle through her voice comm unit.

"What?"

"Fire… the EMP… charge…"

"_Voice authentication acknowledged; initializing disable protocols."_ Her mask's HUD engaged a new display: _EMP primed. _Anna's gauntlet sent a jolt through her arm as the charge emerged from its loading pod.

Without thinking, or the slightest hesitation, Anna lifted her arm towards the hoverjet and fired.

A terrible crackle was audible as the systems on the hoverjet fizzled into nothing. The minigun stopped spinning, and the engines whirring became erratic, almost frantic. Anna watched, rooted in horror and fascination as the engines spun the aircraft out of control, propelling it towards the plateau upon which she rested. She felt Elsa slam into her, pushing them a good distance away, her eyes gazing from her lover's rosy cheeks to the sparking wreck that roared past them. She felt Elsa's grip on her tighten as the hoverjet slammed into the snow covered rock, exploding in a magnificent fireball, sending shrapnel flying in all directions.

It was only after the adrenaline of the moment had begun to die away did the realization of what she'd done finally hit her.

_Oh no._

_They're…_

…_dead…_

…_aren't they?_

"You okay?" she heard Elsa's voice, but seemingly from a faraway place. Her blue irises caught the distraught, lackluster expression upon Anna's face, and then it registered for her too. Wordlessly, she pulled Anna's paralyzed form into an embrace as the first tears trickled down Anna's rosy cheeks.

And then Anna began to cry.

* * *

**After a 3 month hiatus (which I am so, so sorry for), Blizzard is back. Can't guarantee I can be on this in full force, but I can guarantee I haven't given up on this yet. Current chapter seems rather lacking, with poor phrasing and content thus far, but after this I'll be making sure to remedy that. If you're reading this, thank you so much for sticking around this long :)**


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